Be a Student of Fitness

          Fitness follows cycles for most people. The first of the calendar year is the most notable one. New Year’s Resolutions mark the beginning or new beginning of a fitness and nutrition program for many. Throughout the year, many of those same people start to fad around spring break and by the summer they are totally done. The kids are out for school, summer vacations, the lake, and it is just plain hot and has sucked the life out of you! I do understand those things influence our actions. It is always easier to participate in activities when our schedules are perfect with no conflicts. That is why you must decide to make it a priority and re-adjust your workout schedule to keep it a priority.

The start of the school year is another great time to start back on track if you have let it slip. Like New Year’s, this time of year marks the time to get back on a responsible schedule after having holidays and down time. Holidays and vacations are filled with high calorie, not so healthy foods that we all love to eat and drink. I do not exclude myself from this group. My trainers will fully admit we indulge in the yummy foods of life on occasion. Once again, moderation is the key. They all have social lives and most of them have a wife and kids. We deal with the same pressures as anyone. We barbecue, go the lake, and even eat ice cream! We also get back on track after those events and tighten up the diet, get back on the cardio and weights and start back over the day we get back. No harm, no foul.

This year, I want you to get back on track but plan to have mini-breaks from your strict “nutrition lifestyle” and fitness. I use the phrase “nutrition lifestyle” because that is a long term, on going process and not a moment in time like a “diet” tends to be thought of as. If you will think, “I am going to eat perfect during the week and reward myself on Friday” then you will find it is not unbearable. You will also find that you do not go bonkers off your diet by purposely “cheating” once a week unlike what most people do when they go strict for months and then one day have a piece of cake and lose their minds, abandoning any kind of restrictions and gaining everything back over the next few weeks or months. Food is intended to nourish our bodies. Treat food like that and think about what it is doing for your body to make it healthy. Have junk food on occasion as a way to feel a mini-reward for the lifestyle you have chosen to live. You will find it more satisfying if you have earned that treat as well. You also might realize how much better you feel when you eat healthy too.

The school year is when we must get back into a routine with our children, siblings, and our selves. That really is the key to fitness and nutrition. You must make it a routine and schedule it. Sometimes, it won’t be perfect but you just keep going. Like school, where there are subjects that are more difficult to us than other subjects, fitness and nutrition can be the same. Some people lose weight easy, but find muscle harder to build. Some people feel they get too bulky and can’t lose their fat on top of that. Some people find it difficult to workout because of health issues and do not know how to modify it. Once again, Professional Trainers are like teachers. Find one that has an education, and allow them to help you get tutored on the “subjects” you struggle with. School would not be rewarding for children if they do not feel successful and as adults, we need to feel successful too. Let the new school year be a new start for you. Let’s get educated!