| Love/Hate Relationships & Physical Fitness By Kevin Parker |
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Back to The Edge |
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Let’s be honest here…We all hate some or all aspects of physical fitness, Right? You’re going to tell me that you love dieting when a piece of cheesecake or a sweet dessert calls your name after dinner? You love doing abs? You like those early morning cardio sessions that are guaranteed to burn fat better than when you’re fully awake & not glued to your bed? The kids want to go for a bike ride and you’d rather collapse after a tiring, stressful day at work. Most people have physical goals, but the vast majority never achieve them. Why? Because most aren’t willing to do the things they hate to achieve their goals. Here are some tips to help you with the things you hate! 1). Learn how to make the things you hate fun or constructive. I hate doing cardio. But it benefits me in so many ways; I just can’t avoid it. When I first made myself do cardio, I bought a portable CD player so I could enjoy music during this time. Others listen to motivational speakers or books on tape/disc. You can make the time quite useful! I also get out of the gym to do cardio consistently. I like to walk & explore or take a friend and talk. I’ve learned to make it pleasurable rather than looking at it as work. It’s easy to quit if you don’t find a way to make this time special & beneficial to you! Maybe it’s your quiet time of the day. Whatever it is, you have to make it an enjoyable and/or a constructive use of your time! 2). Never lose sight of your goals! Perhaps one way to motivate yourself is to sit down & define your goals. Start modest & reasonable. Don’t plan to enter a national bodybuilding, fitness pageant, marathon, triathlon, or any other advanced event on your initial goal setting process. Rome wasn’t built in a day and you’ll need to walk before you crawl. Pick out things you will be able to achieve initially such as drink 1 liter of water a day, lose 1-5 lbs. this week, walk 3 days this week, lose an 1/16th of an inch off your waist. Then how are you going to get there? What steps are you going to take to make that goal a reality? Many positive small steps lead to bigger successes. Success begets success. With each victory, you take another step towards your goals and maybe one day, to successes you won’t even dare to dream possible today! Your goals can push you to do the work necessary especially if they’re small & measurable. 3). We are defined by how we handle adversity! Have you ever noticed that you don’t really see the true nature of people until they go through adversity? It takes someone special to overcome obstacles with their head up & a smile on their face! When you go to the gym…look for the people who look miserable to be there. If you were to follow them & speak with them at length, chances are that they will still be lamenting their being overweight, sick, unmotivated, etc., etc.! How you handle obstacles that stand between you & your physical fitness goals define how you will handle obstacles in life. If you make excuses here, chances are you also do it in other areas of your life. Choose to overcome & not quit or procrastinate about your goals. A former boss once told me to do the things I hate first and get them over with so I would have more time to enjoy the things I love. I challenge you not only to do that but to define your goals; find a path to them, then find something endearing or constructive about that use of time so you’ll stick with it. With each step comes success and rewards. But you have to find a way beyond, over or around the obstacle. Start today to define yourself positively! Your brother in Christ, Kevin Parker http://home.hot.rr.com/kevinparkers http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drugfreebodybuilding |
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