Don't stop now!
By Teralee Trommeshauser
Fall is just around the corner. The bright, relaxing, sunny veil of summer is lifting away and real life responsibilities become clearer and clearer right before our eyes. This is the time when most of us have thoughts like…
“Damn, no more vacation time. I didn’t do anything this summer…”
“Sh!t. School starts in three days.”
“Oh god, I think I’ve gained, like, five lbs this summer. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I completed a real workout!”
And so on, and so forth. Yes, summer is usually a relaxing, indulgent time of eating appies on restaurant patios, drinking coolers on the beach, and no, getting on/off of the boat doesn’t count as exercise.
But with new obligations about to take precedence, health and fitness are bound to take the back burner once again! That’s ok, we’ll just pick up in November, to ward off Christmas indulgences, or, more likely, if you can’t find the time to make the effort now, you swear you’ll put in 100% for a New Years Resolution. Right? Wrong.
Fall is the absolute perfect time to get on track. Here’s why:
- We can nip any summer weight gains or bad habits in the bud
- We’re already getting our minds into organization/schedule mode, it’s the perfect time to organize our exercise into our schedule, rather than waiting until we’re already too integrated into the usual no-fitness/no-time-for-fitness routine
- People always wait until May/June to try and get that Bikini Body. But the truth is, if you want that shelf butt or a smoking hot six pack by summer time – you need to start NOW. These things take some time, and solid effort. Don’t forget all the slip-ups we’re bound to have. If getting a a gorgeous body was easy, we’d have all done it by now. So take into account for all the Ups and Downs which are going to happen (Thanksgiving, Christmas, just to name a couple).
Plus starting now will give you enough time to build a solid foundation so that when New Years rolls around, if you’re a New Years Resolution Junkie–and don’t act like you aren’t –you can make some serious goals for yourself, and you’ll have proved to yourself already that you can stick to it. By getting results right now, you’ll be more motivated to go for bigger and more bad-ass things (cutting out caffeine completely, running a marathon, washboard abs, 100 pushups, bench-pressing a bear).
So right now, get your day planner out, or pull your calendar off the wall, whatever it is that you use, and start planning. Schedule it in. Are there any new fitness classes you’ve been wanting to try? Try them! Not sure where to start? Try a personal trainer! Personal Training isn’t just a money-grab business. We’re here to help you define your goals, create an action plan around them, and give you all the necessary tools to meet those goals – yourself! If you want us cheering from the sidelines from 1, 3, 50 months, then so be it. But some people just need some structure, a little external motivation, and voila! Before they know it they’re dead-lifting their own bodyweight, and doing Tabata Intervals in the kitchen before breakfast.
Even if you don’t know what it is you’ll be doing, reserve certain spots in your schedule for it. You can figure out the details later!
Teralee Trommeshauer is a Castlegar-based, BCRPA certified weight trainer, group fitness leader, and personal trainer. This column originally appeared on her blog.
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