Author: Dave Regula
[Read Time: 4min]
If you are going to be the leader that the people in your life need, you must be your best self and be in your best health. The search for that health has probably taken you to the internet where you found too many people trying to sell you too many new things.
Rather than give you more things to buy or add to your life, I'm going to give you three behaviors or ideas that you can TAKE OUT of your daily life to increase your health and ultimately your happiness.
Quit these three things now to create momentum with your health and give you the best chance at long term success.
1. Counting Calories…the kind you “burn”
There is a massive movement right now in fitness to BURN all the calories. The hottest national chain boot camps tally all of your calories like they are accurate…(HINT: Studies show they aren't even close.) Most time you feel entitled to consume a little bit more throughout the day.
This is a losing strategy over time as we see over…and over…and over again. It creates a situation where the burn is necessary to maintain any weight loss. When the burn goes away, aka you are too tired to go cardio crazy, you start putting the weight right back on.
The Fix: Focus on training for strength with occasional bouts of high-intensity AND low-intensity exercise. And of course…manage your caloric intake.
2. Jumping into ANYTHING Unsustainable
A simple of rule of thumb…if you can’t do it for the long haul, don’t even bother. This goes for any type of exercise and especially for any type of diet or nutrition plan.
These types of plans do one major thing that can ruin long-term progress and damage your psyche for good. They set you up to fail and program you with a losing mentality.
Momentum is everything when you are creating new positive habits. Jumping into crazy intense workouts when you are just starting out or trying a new diet that eliminates entire food groups (hi, keto folks) will only set you up to quit.
Too many times we see people blaming themselves when things go wrong. “I couldn’t stick to it” or “I didn’t have the willpower”.
NO. You picked a crappy plan. It’s not you…trust us on this one.
The Fix: Start SLOW and use the Confidence Test. If you look at your plan and don’t feel a super high level of confidence (9 out of 10) that you can execute it for the week, back off. Slow down and take your damn time.
3. Beating Yourself Up
You don’t suck. I promise. So stop telling yourself that you do.
One of the biggest mistakes we see from our community is a small mistake turning into a massive landslide of failure, blame, and self-doubt.
You know the deal.
The Friday cocktail turns into guilt which turns into Saturday pancakes which leads to more guilt and the Saturday night nachos and margaritas.
It’s ok to go off the rails once in a while. Just turn the page when it happens. Have a short memory. No need to let it spiral into more.
You aren’t a bad person because you had a drink or a piece of cake.
You are in this for life so what is one bad meal?
It’s the equivalent of getting a flat tire and then knifing the other three.
The Fix:Enjoy the slip-ups. Pizza is good. Ice cream is good. You deserve to eat it once in a while. Let it make you smile…then move on.
There you have it. Addition by subtraction.
If you can make a move and cut these three things from your life you will have a real shot at long-term change that will benefit you and position you as a true leader for your family and those around you.
Nothing crazy…just a little more knowledge.
If you feel stuck and need help implementing any of these important changes or just learning more about how personalized fitness, nutrition, and accountability can make a difference in your life, just shoot us an email or stop in for a visit. We help people all over Northeast Ohio at TrAk and all over North America with TrAk Online and the our FREE ONLINE COMMUNITY.
About the Author: Dave Regula is the co-founder of TrAk Athletics. After a record-setting Ivy-League football career, Dave spent 15 years in the Trading Pits of the Chicago Board of Trade where he spent all of his free time in the gym and coaching fitness and nutrition online. In 2015 he and his wife, 2x Olympian Lauren (the real athlete in the family) moved to Akron, Ohio to start TrAk Athletics and raise their three kids.
