By Tia Norris, July 2019 Issue.
Let’s
get straight to the point: the pursuit of a healthy diet, and related fitness
or physique goals, tends to be a hard road for many people. In fact, some might
even say it’s an impossible road for them personally (this is only because they
haven’t worked with me, yet!). As a trainer, I pride myself on managing my
clients’ expectations with the process, and giving them full disclosure on the
good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to working toward their goals.
Here are some of the most shocking, most
uncomfortable, but most important reality checks that my clients (and maybe
you) need to hear in order to get realistic about this journey toward fitness:
Diet:
•Eat when you need
to eat. Not necessarily when you want to eat. Most people simply fail to
make food (aka, fuel in the tank) a priority throughout their day. They forget
and/or neglect to pack meals and/or snacks, they work through what should be
meal/snack times and prolong the window between meals for far too long.
Consequently, when they actually do check-in with themselves regarding food,
they’re absolutely starving and end up either making poor impulse choices or
drastically overeating. Does this sound familiar? Make food timing a major
priority in your program. Figure out when you’ll need to eat throughout your
day, and plan accordingly. Set a reminder on your phone, if needed. And keep in
mind that you don’t need to be uncontrollably ravenous in order to eat — for
most goals, you can and should eat at regular intervals, sometimes even
when you might not feel like you need it.
•You won’t love
your food all the time. This means I may not love the taste, texture,
temperature, preparation methods, or amount of time that I have to eat that
food, or more, about any particular meal or snack. In fact, I’d say that 60-80%
of my food throughout the day is less than my favorite! This blows many
people’s minds. Now, on one hand, I acknowledge that food can be incomparably
pleasurable, and comforting, and can add a spark of joy to our lives. However,
we need to draw a line of discipline when it comes to fitness goals:
oftentimes, to stay on track, you’ll need to eat something that tastes
mediocre, that isn’t hot or cold like you prefer, in scenarios that are rushed
or cramped or otherwise less than ideal. Get used to it — become a machine in
these scenarios and just do it.
•Extreme measures
don’t work! Slow and steady, wins the race. Intuitively, you all already know
that crash diets, cleanses, and extreme measures work in the short term but
cause significant long term damage. The fact that they work immediately but
temporarily is what makes them so appealing, and I understand that. But, if you
give a shit about your long-term metabolic health and really your long-term
goals (let’s be adults and think big picture, here), I don’t think I need to
get up on my soapbox and preach about something that most people already, deep
down, know to be true. Do the work, be patient, play the long game. If it
sounds too good to be true, it is.
Exercise:
•You won’t like it
every session. Aim for about 60% enjoyment for most goals. For most people, if
you at least like (not even saying love) ⅗, or 60%, of your
workouts, you’re doing really well. For higher volume programs, lower that
standard to ⅖ or 40%. Expect to have to grind through a few of your workouts
per week — it’s normal! You may have one or two standout workouts that you feel
great about and can say you love, but those are the exception to the
rule. To think that you’ll be sliding down rainbows riding a golden unicorn
every workout, is a fantasy. Get to work and suspend your emotions on the hard
days.
•Every single
fitness program in the world involves strength training. You can’t get around
it — so learn it and learn it right. Even on the extreme end of the cardio
spectrum as an Ironman triathlete, I still need to do some strength training.
Dancers lift weights, yogi’s lift weights, senior citizens lift weights — and
you will also need to. Weight training offers benefits like muscle retention,
bone density maintenance, active mobility work, a myriad of mental benefits,
and more, that cannot be replicated in any other fitness modality. Make peace
with the weight room and learn it correctly — and incorporate it weekly at
least two times a week for most goals.
•Take care of your
body, like you would a car or any other machine. It’s mind boggling for me to
hear the level of mistreatment that the average person does to their body. Here
you are, in this incredible machine that carries you throughout your entire
life, it has the power to do literally anything in the world, and is your most
precious possession, but most people neglect to do even the basic maintenance
on themselves. You couldn’t drive a car for 100,000 miles with no maintenance —
machines need to be taken care of. Massages, good sleep, you get it. You cannot
push your body, fuel it with garbage, and otherwise neglect it and then expect
it to perform for you.
I’m a big fan of knowing the exact truth
and the harsh realities when I’m working towards something. Know that you’ll
have to do many things that you don’t want to do, when you don’t want to do
them, for longer than you want to do them — and that’s normal.
Anything worth having won’t come easily.
Readjust
your expectations and keep moving forward!
