A Fitness Philosophy to Change Your Life
-from the STS Fitness and Nutrition Website: www.sts.co.nz
Imagine being so excited about exercise that it's all you could think about...
What would that do for your Wellbeing?
What would that do for your Body?
What would that do for your Life?
Finding Success in Fitness
We were not all born into exercise but every one of us has the ability to love it. All we need is success.
Success is what motivates us to do anything so if we want to improve our fitness then we need to feel like we've succeeded each time we put some effort into it.
The number one reason people give up when they come back to fitness is a lack of success in losing weight.
Weight Loss as a Motivation to Exercise
It's human nature to want constant rewards for anything we dedicate ourselves to but many of us are dedicating our lives to losing weight. Regardless of how dedicated we are, losing weight does not provide success regularly enough to keep us motivated.
Even if we do achieve early success, our constant need for more deems that unless we continue, we will soon get down on ourselves and do something which makes us feel better. For a lot of weight loss enthusiasts that something is often destructive to our weight loss pursuit. We all know how to gain weight...
Next thing we know we've actually lost ground and feel less motivated than before we started.
Training for Sport as a Motivation to Exercise
Sport has a way of getting us hooked to exercise. If some initial interest is fostered properly it can quickly turn into a whole new way of life.
Start with the right level of abilities and you’ll receive positive feedback from a range of people. Each time you get feedback it’ll make you enjoy your new form of exercise that much more and strengthen your resolve to keep it up.
Better yet you can see improvements in what you can do within just one training. Take note of where you started and you’ll be amazed by just how much you’ve improved every few weeks.
Contrast this with the motivation you get for losing weight:
· No one will notice you’ve lost weight until it is significant.
· The same person, such as a trainer or spouse, telling you that you’re looking great only motivates you so long before you realise they’re just being nice.
· You won’t look different in the mirror for at least 2months.
· Your clothes won’t fit better for at least 2months unless you do something radical and probably unsustainable.
Becoming an Athlete
People who consider themselves athletes do not need to be fit, thin, muscular or even "athletic". They simply think of themselves as an athlete.
The word "Athlete" can be substituted for more specific terms such as a Runner, Swimmer, Footballer, Weight Lifter, Dancer or any other adjective which involves fitness.
By thinking of yourself as an athlete you'll gain your motivation from every new skill you learn. Every time you become even remotely more effective in doing what you do you'll feel the success and increase your motivation.
Now you may be thinking: "Learning a new skill won't make me lose weight. I don't even like sports."
Learning the skills of whatever new activity you choose will increase your ability to do what you do.
Being able to do anything better than before increases the chances we'll keep doing it.
If the activity you choose requires you to use energy then it's going to help you lose weight.
Find Your Inner Athlete Now!
-from the STS Fitness and Nutrition Website: www.sts.co.nz
Imagine being so excited about exercise that it's all you could think about...
What would that do for your Wellbeing?
What would that do for your Body?
What would that do for your Life?
Finding Success in Fitness
We were not all born into exercise but every one of us has the ability to love it. All we need is success.
Success is what motivates us to do anything so if we want to improve our fitness then we need to feel like we've succeeded each time we put some effort into it.
The number one reason people give up when they come back to fitness is a lack of success in losing weight.
Weight Loss as a Motivation to Exercise
It's human nature to want constant rewards for anything we dedicate ourselves to but many of us are dedicating our lives to losing weight. Regardless of how dedicated we are, losing weight does not provide success regularly enough to keep us motivated.
Even if we do achieve early success, our constant need for more deems that unless we continue, we will soon get down on ourselves and do something which makes us feel better. For a lot of weight loss enthusiasts that something is often destructive to our weight loss pursuit. We all know how to gain weight...
Next thing we know we've actually lost ground and feel less motivated than before we started.
Training for Sport as a Motivation to Exercise
Sport has a way of getting us hooked to exercise. If some initial interest is fostered properly it can quickly turn into a whole new way of life.
Start with the right level of abilities and you’ll receive positive feedback from a range of people. Each time you get feedback it’ll make you enjoy your new form of exercise that much more and strengthen your resolve to keep it up.
Better yet you can see improvements in what you can do within just one training. Take note of where you started and you’ll be amazed by just how much you’ve improved every few weeks.
Contrast this with the motivation you get for losing weight:
· No one will notice you’ve lost weight until it is significant.
· The same person, such as a trainer or spouse, telling you that you’re looking great only motivates you so long before you realise they’re just being nice.
· You won’t look different in the mirror for at least 2months.
· Your clothes won’t fit better for at least 2months unless you do something radical and probably unsustainable.
Becoming an Athlete
People who consider themselves athletes do not need to be fit, thin, muscular or even "athletic". They simply think of themselves as an athlete.
The word "Athlete" can be substituted for more specific terms such as a Runner, Swimmer, Footballer, Weight Lifter, Dancer or any other adjective which involves fitness.
By thinking of yourself as an athlete you'll gain your motivation from every new skill you learn. Every time you become even remotely more effective in doing what you do you'll feel the success and increase your motivation.
Now you may be thinking: "Learning a new skill won't make me lose weight. I don't even like sports."
Learning the skills of whatever new activity you choose will increase your ability to do what you do.
Being able to do anything better than before increases the chances we'll keep doing it.
If the activity you choose requires you to use energy then it's going to help you lose weight.
Find Your Inner Athlete Now!
This is interesting, because it points out that a lot of people's motivation in exercising is losing weight. If you don't need to lose weight, what then? My view is that we may not be born natural athletes, but our bodies love to move, so when we get that feeling of well being that is associated with doing the kind of exercise we love, we will keep coming back to it.
ReplyDeleteExactly Rebecca, What happens to your exercise, when you no longer need to lose weight?
ReplyDeleteThat's a major point I'm getting at but it often only shows up when people get obsessed and start losing too much weight.
Its rarely an issue for those exercising to lose weight because many end up going back to previous lifestyles due to a lack of results...unless in the process they became athletes and learned to love their exercise.