As a Personal Trainer, I am mystified as to why so many people are willing to become unhealthier by the day. We have a population in the United States that continues to gain weight, eat poorly, exercise too little and are becoming less and less functional. By functional I mean people can’t move! Parents can’t play with their kids, which are memories of fun that will never happen. Grandparents can’t get in and out of the floor to play with their Grandkids. People can’t hike, ride bikes or ski anymore. More kids are overweight than ever. More and more people are suffering from metabolic risk factors; high blood pressure, large waistline, high triglycerides, high blood sugar leading to diabetes. In many of these cases prescription medicine is needed, often for life. Frankly, this saddens and worries me greatly for future generations.Hope is never lost and things can change. But, they can only change when someone decides, truly decides, they want change to happen. No excuses. We have to reach what I call A Point. For change to occur, there is going to have to be sacrifice. We don’t like that as humans, we want what we want and we want it now. But, think about it, we get unhealthy because we aren’t willing to make sacrifices, so to get healthier we’ll have to make sacrifices. We’ll have to eat out at restaurants less, we’ll have to workout when we are too tired or just don’t feel like it. We may have to tell friends, “No I can’t go out tonight”. Life will be different, life will be better!
By making changes, small changes, over time, things will be different. You can go on that hike with your kids or grand kids and create unforgettable memories. You’ll be able to ski again. Maybe run that first 5K or start biking again. By dropping weight you will be able to buy those cool new jeans you haven’t been able to fit into. I guarantee you will have more energy and less stress.
How do I know this? Well, for one, I’ve been overweight before. I’ll never forget the day I decided to change for good over 16 years ago. I also get to see our clients make inspirational changes every day. Change is tough, but anything worthwhile is. No matter the goal, when people start moving better and feeling better everything becomes possible. Our stresses are still stressful, but no longer impossible. Making better food choices become easier. Participating in life becomes a mantra.
So where do you start? Just get moving. Start working out, go for a walk around the block, take a short hike. Momentum will start to build and you’ll be unstoppable. Will everything go smoothly? Not a chance. But if we keep doing what we’ve been doing we’ll get the same result. Right now, write a goal down and take one action toward that goal. That one small step is how greatness begins!