Start Small, Finish Big

In today’s world, it seems like we rarely have time to breath, let alone start a fitness program. It can be very hard to find the time and motivation to get in a workout. I see this time and time again in the gym. We all have families, jobs, school, or many other things that consume our lives.

Photo Credit: http://www.theemotionmachine.com/working-hard-vs-staying-busy

This makes it extremely tough. But what if I told you that you were making it too hard on yourself, even setting yourself up for failure? Would you believe me?

Here’s what I mean. When most people begin a fitness program, they want to go all out. They commit to working out 6 days a week and cutting out everything from their nutrition that isn’t “healthy”. They try to overhaul their entire lifestyle.

Imagine trying to change something that you have been doing for most of your life. Pretty hard right? Now imagine trying to sustain that change for the rest of your life. You have gone from hard to near impossible.

This is not the way you want to approach a healthier lifestyle. Doing so usually results in failure. Many people do not accomplish what they set out to because this is the path they generally take.

Now, you may be asking yourself what do I do then? Well, I’ve got the answer: start small. You know what you want your body to look like. Don’t you want to make sure you do it correctly and sustain the changes? Of course you do!

So what does start small mean? Well, here is an example. Let’s say your goal is to lose 40 pounds. Overall, you do not eat well, but one of your main things you struggle with is consuming 3 cokes per day. To start, I tell you to focus on drinking only 2 cokes a day.

Doesn’t sound that bad right? That’s exactly the point. You need to give yourself a goal that you can achieve. As that gets easy, you go to 1 coke per day then 1 every other day, then eventually no soda. It can be as simple as that to start off!

You do not have to change everything about yourself to see results. Recently, I overheard a client telling a trainer, “If I can just give up the french fries, mashed potatoes, potato chips, cookies, and soda I will hit my goal. It’s just so hard.” I’m not surprised. Think about how many things she is trying to give up at once that are probably some of her favorite foods.

You only have to start with one thing, just one tiny change. I have seen so many people set their sights too far to be grasped, myself included. When you start small though, you will be surprised at how easy it becomes to eat better and exercise more. Remember, you must progress your goals to continue seeing results.

You can’t keep drinking 2 cokes everyday and lose 40lbs. As a goal becomes easier then make it a little bit harder. It’s kind of like exercise, as a weight gets easier you increase it to make it more challenging. If you don’t, your progress will stall.

So go ahead and create big goals! Find what motivates you and chase after them one small step at a time. It won’t be easy but it is worth it. As Jimmy Dugan said in A League of Their Own, “Of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.”

And remember, although you may start small you will finish big!

If you are looking for a personal trainer in Savannah, contact me to set up a consultation.

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