ONELIFE FITNESS: Attaining Your Health Goals in a Maintainable Way

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by Beth Douglas

Change doesn’t happen overnight; it takes a lot of dedication and hard work. If you’re ready to live a healthier and happier life, you can’t do it using a temporary plan. You have to give up the need for immediate results.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

  1. Start off every day with a healthy habit and make sure it’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed. For example: A quick morning workout (10 squats, 10 push-ups and a 30 second plank) and/or packing a healthy lunch and snacks. Each can be done in under 10 minutes.

2. Find a system that works for you, FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. If you absolutely hate running it shouldn’t be in your program. If you push yourself into something you absolutely hate doing, your commitment, however strong to begin with, will very soon wear off. You need to find the right thing for you, an activity you’ll love or can learn to love.

3.  Make a plan. If you were going to start a new business you would need a plan: when are you going to eat; what are you going to eat; when are you going to exercise; and what exercises are you going to do. If you don’t know how to make this plan, seek out  a personal trainer, nutritionist or life coach. They can help you develop a plan that works for you and your budget. This is money well-spent and many times they can save you the money  by teaching you how to prep your foods and by eliminating unhealthy habits.

4. Start small and make a few changes a week. The moment you concentrate on the action and not on the end result is when you truly transform, inside and out. It is important that you stick to the small things first, before you demand anything more radical from yourself. The harder you push from the start, the harder it’ll be to stay on track.

5.  Beware of the "magic pill."  There is no such thing as instant success: no magic pill, patch, smoothie or shake. Just because you see someone that looks great wearing a patch or drinking a shake, it doesn’t mean it works. Believe me when I tell you they are making a lot of healthy choices to get into the shape that they are in and it’s not because of the magic thing they are trying to sell you. You achieve great results by making great choices daily, hourly and minute by minute.

6.  Stay away from temporary diets.  You can’t eat something for 21 days, 30 days or even 90 days and attain instant health. This is something you need to do for the rest of your life! You can get great results with temporary diets, but 90 percent of the time your results are just as temporary as the diet.

REMEMBER, YOU GOT THIS!

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”  - Mark Twain

Beth Douglas is the general manager at OneLife Fitness in Gainesville. You can email Beth any questions about your health and fitness goals at beth@onelifefitness.com.

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