What does being strong and fit mean to you? Is it part of your life or is it on your wish list? Do you look forward to your workouts or is it a constant struggle to even get there? If you do participate in an exercise program is it about meeting the needs of your body or about some sort of punishment? It has been well proven that the way you view your exercise program can determine your level of success with it.
Many new fitness enthusiasts start off on the wrong foot, and even long term exercisers can be led astray. A healthy exercise and eating plan is about adding things to your life that make you feel good, make you come alive and enrich your life. It is never about taking things away or about depriving oneself of that last piece of chocolate cake.
Falling victim to an all-nothing type of thinking will never do you any favors. In a world that is always focused on the quick fix, it is not always easy to do things slowly and do them right. But becoming stronger and fitter is about making sure you can squeeze every bit of enjoyment from your one and only life.
Without strength and low levels of fitness your world becomes smaller and the choices you can make will become fewer. To fully enjoy life it takes energy and drive as our modern life is fast paced and unforgiving.
A proper exercise program that includes strength training exercise will give you more endurance and stamina so you can power through your daily tasks and have energy left over to pursue something you enjoy, something for fun. Without that energy you just collapse before the day has ended and end up spending more time in an inactive manner.
Every week that you do not do enough physical activity for your body to stay healthy is a tiny step down that downward spiral of inactivity that goes nowhere. Turn that around and with small steps adding a little each week, a little more activity and exercise, a little bit better with the eating you can take control and make a continuous and stronger commitment. No matter how seemingly small or insignificant at the time, maintaining long term changes can have long lasting results.
It is time to create your healthy lifestyle and you can start right away. Now is definitely the best time to start. Make your list of positive improvements in small and manageable steps. Make a list of thing that you would like to control, decrease or slowly give up. Set small goals and milestones and plan a reward when they are reached. Make that reward significant to you to give you something solid to work towards.
Choose your first new habit, track it for a month and make it your new permanent routine. Keep that habit or activity going as you begin to work on the next one the following month. The truth is that each healthy day is a layer of paint, every workout and healthy meal a brush stroke and it is the healthy changes unfolding over time that make the million dollar masterpiece.
