Hi,
I’d like to talk to you about 3 main problems people face when it comes to their fitness and wellbeing.
I’ve been training people to get fit and healthy in the UK for about 10 years. People I’ve helped have lost over 1000 kilos of body fat in total. This is roughly just below 160 stone which is equal to 14 people’s entire body weight!
From years of training hundreds of people, I’ve come across exactly the same issues with almost every single person. These problems have to be solved if you want to lose weight, get fit and be healthy..
People who make a success are the ones who can address each one of these 3 key elements. Knowledge Problem, Accountability Problem and Motivation Problem.
Knowledge Problems:
People often don’t know what to do when it comes to fitness. Social media and the internet are saturated with fitness information which has partly addressed this problem as we now have access to so many fitness videos, recipes etc. However information is mostly contradictory and this has created another problem in itself. Confusion! One piece of information says dieting is essential, the other one says do not count your calories or eat fat to lose weight. One resource might say HIIT is the best way getting fit, the other one says small changes to maximise the benefits.
People are confused about which fitness journey to follow. Many are aware of potential ‘scams’ and don’t want to be fooled and fall into the social media trap. People ask me many questions as a result of this. Shall I do cardio, how much cardio, what is the best cardio, would weight(strength) training make me lose weight, how heavy how often, how many sets/how many reps/how many days a week gives the best results.. The questions go on and on!
If you type any of these questions on google, you will get pages of answers. But, which one should you follow?
The Accountability Problem:
If you don’t feel 100% accountable, you won’t be able to lose that weight.
We are grown-ups. Unless you have a bossy partner or a friend, nobody keeps you accountable to get fit and healthy. When you buy that delicious bottle of wine on a Thursday evening, order a takeaway on a Friday evening or not exercise for days/weeks, nobody keeps you accountable. It’s just down to you.
You might already have a personal trainer who you see weekly. As a traditional concept in personal training, you are buying their time to train you for that specific booking time. That’s it. The rest of the time you are literally on your own. You are responsible for your own healthy eating, your own additional exercises in between sessions, if needed, and for your healthy decisions.
If you are lacking accountability, what you need is daily check-ins and regular communications. This is so essential. So if you don’t have this additional service from your trainer, find an accountability body, a colleague, partner or friend to keep each other accountable. You might not get the best professional service that you get from a fitness coach, but remember if it’s a friend, then it’s free and it is better than not having one!
The Motivation Problem:
Every individual has different levels of motivation. Some are super pumped up and full of enthusiasm and some are very reluctant to keep up to date with their exercise and healthy eating regimes.
We all need to be motivated and it is an essential skill as a fitness coach to realise when someone needs it. Most of the time, when you do a workout, you always want to eat healthy food. It just comes from nowhere!
From my experience, my highly motivated clients all had a specific reason to get fit and healthy. For example someone who came to me 2 years ago lost over 10 kilos in 10-12 weeks because he had his son’s wedding and he wanted to look better and feel healthier. Some one else was going to be a father in 7 months so he wanted to be in his best shape when his daughter was born. What is your reason to become fit and healthy?
Other than these specific deadlines, I personally find it motivating to look at someone’s workout video on Youtube or social media. It gives me that buzz to get up and go! It could be something as simple as a good, upbeat playlist that motivates you.
Imagine you are let’s say 5 kilos lighter. How good would you feel? You would not only look better but also have so much more energy. Your sleep will improve, you won’t be out of breath to climb up 20 flights of steps and as a result of all these, you will feel so so much happier.
Find out your big why and remember, you will always feel better after a workout.