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Off the Subject of Gardening for a Short Respite/RantNormally I wouldn't bring in the subject of being a personal trainer into the GS site too often since that's not the focus of this site. But as a personal trainer it's a big part of life, particularly at this time of year. Why this time of year? Because of the flood of "New Year's Resolutioners" that come to me asking for help. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE helping people eat better and improve their overall fitness. It's extremely rewarding when you watch someone progress from a first time gym goer that's about to quit to someone who's made fitness their lifestyle. But as a trainer I also see the worst side of things, and that usually comes in the form of New Year's resolutions. Oh my gosh I hear the worst resolutions when someone comes to talk to me about training. Over the past three years I've put together a list of resolution tips to help. 1) Be detailed in your resolutions -- It's great to say, "I want to lose weight" or "I want to get in better shape." But what does that really mean. That's not any different than if I were to go into a nursery and say, "I want to grow a garden." Okay, what kind of garden? "I don't know... a garden." Know how much weight (or better yet, body fat percentage) you want to drop. 2) Be realistic with your goal -- This is what brought about this blog this morning, I just got back from a consultation with a prospective new client. She was a delightful lady with unrealistic expectations. In her case, she was a marathon runner, but still wanted to lose two inches around her waist. Really? She had a body fat percentage at the low end of normal. There wasn't much she could lose. When we sat down and really talked about it, she confided that she she didn't like the balance of her body. We came up a realistic plan to give her some more attainable upper body strength, which would help her shoulders stand out a little more and give her that balance. It simply wasn't realistic for her to lose inches around her hips. It's the same way when someone comes in and tells me they want to lose 50 lbs before their birthday in two months. Sorry but it's not going to happen. The worst thing that has happened to TV is "The Biggest Loser." It's created very unrealistic expectations for what weight loss can be. 3) Know how you're going to get there -- This is where having a personal trainer can really help. To reach your goal you have to know how to get there. If I'm going to grow a veggie garden I have to know and follow the steps in preparing the soil, having proper plant selection for my zone, knowing when to plant based upon the frost season, and such. Fitness is no different. There are so many parts and pieces to fitness that will work or not work depending on your goal it's hard to know what's what if you're not familiar with things. That's where I come in, I help plan out the path, adjust where necessary, and keep accountability going. 4) What's that? Accountability? -- Let people know what your goals are. Find someone who will support you and ask how you're doing and hold your feet to the fire. It needs to be someone you admire and to a degree want to impress. Facebook. A Personal Trainer. A support group at the gym. 5) By all means reward yourself -- Make success fun. Just don't make success counterproductive. If your goal was to lose 15 lbs by the end of March and you reach it, don't celebrate by heading out to McDonald's. Okay, enough of that. I just had to get that off my chest. Thanks for letting me share. Now on to gardening... oh wait, I can't. The wind chill is -10 and it's snowing once again. This blog entry has been viewed 179 times
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Excellent advice !! You might add that you must know your individual body type too. There are many people that are not intended to look like Barbie !! Genetics have to be considered as well !! And most of all,,,healthy food !! Its not a matter of dieting so much as learning what and how to cook and eat for health. A well balanced diet is a lost concept today !!
You have an engaging writing style V. I enjoyed this blog entry. Resolutions are good and all but the problem is they are too easy to make. Making them a reality is the hard part. I think of them as too much too soon which leads to burnout. Best path is to tackle something a small bit everyday. Login or register to leave a comment. |
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