Living The Fitness Lifestyle

A number of you have written me about how exactly to approach the days when you are no longer working out, if you are not following a meal plan so when you aren't scheduled to participate in a conditioning event of some sort. We have a tendency to call these "off days" or "rest days," some people even have an "off-season" and I have a tendency to think these names are pretty appropriate. I think the major idea or concept we who take part in and live the fitness lifestyle will need to have is that there surely is never a time when our body is doing nothing. The only time your body will even come close to doing nothing is if you are dead and then it is still doing something; it's called decaying. But on a serious note, we have to get it in our minds that living fit is greater than a gym workout or perhaps a group of well planned meals, it really is a lifestyle. Media and marketing execute a congrats of selling products however they have also given many people an unrealistic idea of what being fit is, what it looks like and how to live fit.

Popular mindsets to avoid

So often I talk to people who engage in body building and physique competitions. They are sports that I personally love and respect. These sports are seen as a a huge number of amazing athletes and they have always had a company place in my heart as some of the best personalities and friends. However, a lot of people (but rarely the athletes) have a tendency to place the wrong label on these folks and incorrectly think of these people because the ultimate symbol of the fitness lifestyle. In nearly all cases (you can find exceptions) I can tell you that nothing could possibly be further from the truth. I lived that lifestyle in most of my life therefore i know what I'm discussing.

In my experience nearly all these people only engage in fitness lifestyle endeavors around the clock when it's time to incomparable a competition. The rest of the year most of them won't train for weeks at the same time, they eat anything they please and take part in binging, literally gorging themselves with food then turn around and initiate extreme dieting practices so as to prepare for their show. Furthermore, a lot of people I've known in these sports (including myself at one time) only exercise and eat "clean" at various times over summer and winter during the years that they are competing.

Over time, the great fluctuations in body weight, the steroid abuse and constantly changing dietary practices take their toll. Once their lives have moved at night competition phase, a lot of them have a tendency to become recreational exercisers and end up having the same conditioning shortcomings that most other people face. While sport is a tremendous way to stay static in shape and enjoy our lives we need to ensure that we create lifestyle characteristics which will remain once our days of competition have passed. I struggled with this for years and will tell you that is a tremendous challenge for the former physique athlete.

BECOME FAMILIAR WITH Yourself It's Going to be a Long Ride

Living fit (forever) is about you becoming aware of your fitness shortcomings and designing a lifestyle that will improve them and maintain them at a high level. It's really that simple. It's not a get ripped-up for summer then gain all the weight back the fall kind of lifestyle. Sure periodically a fit person may decide to take some aspect of fitness and improve it considerably to be able to enjoy the benefits of it, but the thing to remember will there be is no stopping point.

It is a key concept that is so simple, but so absent from most people's lives. The fitness lifestyle never stops.  Continue reading  doesn't end once you quit playing a sport, it doesn't end once you get married also it doesn't end when you begin your own business. There is absolutely no stopping point for many who live fit. Sure we all have setbacks, struggles and challenges to overcome; but we overcome them. We realize that these setbacks, struggles and challenges will undoubtedly be overcome while living in the fitness lifestyle. Quite simply we usually do not modify our lifestyle as a way to cope with issues, we cope with problems while maintaining our lifestyle. As simplistic as this sounds, I've found that this is perhaps the hardest facet of living fit that a lot of people deal with.

Of course you can find meals, days and occasions when we do things that are contrary to our fitness beliefs and lives. But they will be the exception, not the rule. These exact things are allowed into our lives as a break from typical, as brief events that increase our lives in different ways and are worth the price.

Some examples may be:

Eating cake with your child on their birthday - there are so many positives which come from this
Having some drinks having an old friend who must talk - friends are priceless, this won't hurt you
Enjoying cultural events by partaking in its food and drinks - a lot of things in life can't be replaced

So you get the picture. Living fit is not about sporting six-pack abs year-round (but range from this) and soon you get married then adopting the beer belly. Living fit is approximately an eternity of choices and actions that result in your physical betterment as your life goes on from phase-to-phase and relationship-to-relationship. The best thing I love about the fitness lifestyle is that it's never too late to begin. This is an incredible concept that has changed the lives of millions, myself included, and it can do exactly the same for you if you so choose.

I challenge you to take a long look at many of the lifestyle choices you now make and consider methods to add a healthier fitness mindset into those ideas so as to create and build a lifestyle that will provide you with a great level of fitness from this moment forward. You can do it! Living fit is a choice and that choice is yours.