The most common questions I get asked are; ‘How do you keep it going’, ‘how do you stay motivated?’, ‘how do you get to the gym X amount of times a week?’ and ‘how do you stick to your diet?’
When people lack motivation I usually find it’s because what they’re doing on their quest for health and fitness is not enjoyable!
If your exercise plan or diet isn’t right for you then you’re going to hate it, of course, you’re going to struggle to stick to it. If I was doing some awful prescribed method that I wasn’t enjoying because I didn’t know any better, I’d last not very long before I’d quit.
One of the most important questions I ask my clients is ‘how often can you exercise?’ and ‘what do you like doing?’ I know that this is hugely important because if they like it, they will stick to it. Swimming, CrossFit, resistance training, yoga even power walking; these are all options people enjoy and if it gets them moving then great.
And a frequency they can realistically keep to removes the overreaching problem where you can’t realistically keep up with a cookie-cutter exercise routine.
Yes, there are exercises that I am going to recommend that they should factor in that are going to be optimal for improving body composition. These can be a small part of someone’s exercise regime, but you have got to enjoy it overall. Which means you will keep it going.
And there lies the secret sauce, adherence!
It is the same with diet, if I tell you it’s chicken and broccoli for the rest of your days, you’re going to say ‘Andy it is time for you to piss off!’ This is why food plans are futile. You’ve cultivated your diet over years, and you eat at the times convenient to you. To completely overhaul your diet is ludicrous! You won’t last very long before you are back eating your normal diet.
I have had clients tell me that they had done a certain personal trainer’s (let’s call him Joe) diet plan and they lasted just a couple of weeks. Because ‘prepping like a boss’ and ‘eating clean’ is a complete overhaul and miles away from their normal diet. And irrelevant for when it comes to getting in shape. No wonder only 10% of the people that purchase his plan complete it!
So when you’re thinking about exercise and diet think about the stuff that you enjoy and you won’t need motivation, you’ll be happy to do it!
