Fitness Goals

Just like everything else in life, we have to have balance in our fitness routine.  We all know people who either really need to get in shape and maybe a few who are to obsessive about it.  I spent years as one of those who was way to obsessed with it.  Now I am in the other category :/.

After years of various workouts and supplements as well as helping others get into shape I learned a few things.  Their were two things I learned that stand out above everything else.  One is you are stuck with your genetics no matter what.  Some of us just naturally have thicker bodies and some of us just have a thin body.  Nothing you can do will ever change that.  For me, despite my weight gain over the last few years I have a thin body type.  That is why I saw now I am fat and skinny at the same time.  I have a belly, but long thin arms and chicken legs.

When I was in the gym all the time I would get bigger.  But I never saw the results I wanted to.  I could eat as much as I could, lift the heaviest weights possible for me and the most I ever weighed was 205 at 5'10".  That weight gain did not happen until I was 25 years old.  Before that I was a scrawny 170.

Meanwhile I saw people who were heavier, but still looked great wanting to get into a size zero and they never could get their.

The first part of fitness is accepting the fact we are not all Jennifer Anniston or Brad Pitt and few of us can ever have bodies like them.  By accepting that fact it will help you to be happier with your fitness plan.

And being happy with your fitness plan is what will make all the difference.  That was the other thing that stands out to me after 20 years of athletics, consistency is what matters the most.

I would see people go on diets where they would starve themselves to lose weight.  But then they would binge eat.  Which ironically have a double effect of weight gain on the body.  By not eating enough calories your body thinks it is starving and slows down your metabolism to save energy.  Once it slows down the amount of calories you burn to save energy, binge eating actually doubles the weight gain since it takes time for your body to balance out.

Anything with fitness requires consistency.  If you ran one day a week for 10 miles, it will not have the same benefits of running two miles ten times a week.

A lot of people get so hyped up about a new diet or workout plan they over do it.  Its great to be excited about getting in shape.  But you have to pick a plan you know you will stick to.  Going to the gym everyday for a month will not help you once you get burned out.  But starting a routine of going 30 minutes a day after work and sticking to it will help you for a lifetime.

The trick is not getting where you want to be fitness wise, its staying where you want to be.  The only way to stay there is by being consistent.