How to Fight Laziness & Get The Results You Want
I am a strong believer that having success in health and fitness, and life in fact, comes from two things: routine + habit. These words often cop a rather negative rap, however I feel they are absolutely essential in successful healthy living.
Entrepreneur Timothy Ferris, author of The ‘Four Hour Work Week’ follows this rule himself and says, “The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat loss, eat the same few meals over and over again.”
Like Ferris, through embracing these two aspects into our lives, we can undergo immense life transformations towards improving our health and fitness.
Aristotle once claimed; “Humans are driven from two stimulants, pleasure & pain. Within these two is a “push/pull” effect – human beings will either move towards something that causes pleasure or move away from something that causes us pain”.
Two examples being: the perceived pain of exercise ‘vs’ the pleasure of staying in bed or the pleasure of eating a block of chocolate ‘vs’ the pain of missing out on desert.
We live in a world of ever increasing technology where products and gadgets are consistently being designed and upgraded to make our life easier and more convenient. As a result, we have developed a real propensity to look for the “easy way” to or through something to get or experience what we want. Don’t get me wrong, this can be great for some purposes and I often take advantage of the technological world myself, though it is undeniable as humans, no matter who you are, that we are constantly fighting against our natural urge to a certain “laziness” that lies within. Thus the more we are presented with a “quick fix” option, the more we feed this aspect of ourselves.
If we are able to fight that “innate laziness” through laying down a foundation of daily habits that support our desired health, we will have guaranteed success and in return, reap the rewards of our hard earned and sometimes monotonous labour. I am the last to say that being healthy is “easy peasy”. It can often be a battle emotionally, physically and, undeniably socially. However, the sense of achievement and satisfaction that follows when we have reached [insert desired health goal here] far outweighs the “pleasure” of avoiding doing what it takes to reach the goal.
When we are in alignment with our health, we feel connected to ourselves. Our digestion improves, our skin glows, our eyes sparkle, we are at peace with our body image. We reach for wholesome fresh foods and our energy for life and is abundant… We’re on purpose and in control (in a non-controlling, more flowing way).
Life is “effort-full” and to live effort-fully we must take consistent steps in our daily lives to support ourselves to feeling the best we can.
Here are some steps you can take towards integrating consistent health routine in to your daily living:
Find Your Waking Time
Set your alarm for the same time every day. This is the best way to bring consistent routine in your life. From the moment you wake up, the rest of your morning is likely to follow in the same fashion if you stick to your first health routine.
Just Do it
Go to the gym, go for a walk, swim laps… what ever it is you enjoy doing for exercise, don’t over think it, just go. Too often we get to the end of the day and become overwhelmed at the thought of having to go and smash out another hour at the gym. I say, commit to ten minutes. If you are feeling tired or under motivated, go easy on yourself, cut back your work out time but still go! Chances are you will end up staying longer once you get the endorphins flowing through you.
Less Room For Error
If you have routine in the way you structure your eating, you will set yourself up for great success when it comes to meeting any healthy eating habits you embark on. I always start my day with 2 boiled eggs or a protein smoothie. Lunch is a salad with protein – usually steak or chicken and dinner is what ever I like. The importance of breakfast and lunch being somewhat the same leaves you with less opportunity to get overwhelmed by choice and as a result either going too long without eating (ever been “hangry” – when you are so hungry you turn angry?) and devour anything in front of you, or worse – skipping a meal all together.
Delayed Gratification
Bear in mind that other than the immediate post exercise happy drug (endorphins) we get as a reward for doing a work out, setting out on a health & fitness endeavour takes time and will test your will power. But know that after 3-4 weeks (sometimes less) of consistency, you will see and feel results! It’s the in-between, uncomfortable letting go of the old habits that we often find is the biggest struggle. If this is a real issue for you, finding a fitness & lifestyle coach you gel with may be a good investment, as they will hold you accountable for any goals you are working towards and can assist you with plenty of encouragement to keep on purpose.
Power In Numbers
Find a fitness buddy! Join a bootcamp! Surround yourself with people that promote the kind of lifestyle you would like to build for yourself. It’s a hell of a lot easier to get out of bed and go for a run, when you know a friend is coming by to pick you up. This way you can hold each other accountable for your workouts and encourage one another to reach your desired health and fitness goals! This one is can often make a world of difference, unless you prefer to work out solo.
Do My 8 Days To Feeling Great in8 Days Challenge
Why not start a new routine by doing my 8 day challenge!!
Does anyone have any great daily routines that keep them on purpose?
Candice
