A number of you have written me about how to approach the times when you are not working out, while you are not following a meal plan and when you are not scheduled to participate in a conditioning event of some sort. We tend to call these "off days" or "rest days," some people even have an "off-season" and I have a tendency to think these names are pretty appropriate. I believe the major idea or concept we who take part in and live the fitness lifestyle must have is that there is never a time when our body is doing nothing. The only real time your body will even come close to doing nothing is when you are dead and then it is still doing something; it's called decaying. But on a significant note, we have to get it inside our minds that living fit is more than a gym workout or a series of well planned meals, it really is a lifestyle. Media and marketing do a congrats of selling products but they have also given many people an unrealistic notion of what being fit is, what it looks like and how to live fit.
Popular mindsets to avoid
So often I talk to people who engage in bodybuilding and physique competitions. These are sports that Personally, i love and respect. These sports are characterized by a wide array of amazing athletes and they have always had a firm place in my heart as some of my favorite personalities and friends. However, a lot of people (but rarely the athletes) tend to place the incorrect label on these people and incorrectly think about these people as the ultimate symbol of the fitness lifestyle. In nearly all cases (there are exceptions) I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. I lived that lifestyle in most of my life so I know what I'm talking about.
In my experience nearly all these people only take part in fitness lifestyle endeavors night and day when it's time to get ready for a competition. The rest of the year most of them won't train for weeks at the same time, they eat anything they please and engage in binging, literally gorging themselves with food then change and initiate extreme dieting practices so that you can prepare for their show. In addition to this, a lot of people I've known in these sports (including myself at one time) only exercise and eat "clean" at various times throughout the year during the years that they are competing.
Over time, the fantastic fluctuations in bodyweight, the steroid abuse and constantly changing dietary practices take their toll. Once their lives have moved at night competition phase, most of them have a tendency to become recreational exercisers and find yourself having the same physical fitness shortcomings that most other folks face. While sport is a tremendous way to stay in shape and enjoy our lives we must ensure that we create lifestyle characteristics that will remain once our days of competition have passed. I struggled with this particular for years and can tell you that this is really a tremendous challenge for the former physique athlete.
Get To Know Yourself It's Going to be a Long Ride
Living fit (forever) is approximately you becoming aware of your own body's fitness shortcomings and designing a lifestyle that will improve them and maintain them at a high level. It's really that simple. It isn't a get ripped-up for summer then gain all of the weight back in the fall kind of lifestyle. Sure periodically a fit person may decide to take some aspect of fitness and improve it considerably so that you can enjoy the benefits of it, but the thing to remember is there is not any stopping point.
This is usually a key concept that's so simple, but so absent from most people's lives. The fitness lifestyle never stops. It doesn't end once you quit playing an activity, it doesn't end once you get married and it doesn't end when you start your own business. There is no stopping point for individuals who live fit. Sure we all have setbacks, struggles and challenges to overcome; but we overcome them. We know that these setbacks, struggles and challenges will be overcome while surviving in the fitness lifestyle. Put simply Sea Moss Benefits do not modify our lifestyle so as to deal with issues, we cope with issues while maintaining our lifestyle. As simplistic as this sounds, I've found that this could very well be the hardest facet of living fit that a lot of people deal with.
Of course you can find meals, days and times when we do things that are contrary to our fitness beliefs and lives. However they will be the exception, not the rule. These exact things are allowed into our lives as a break from typical, as brief events that add to our lives in other ways and are worth the cost.
Some examples could be:
Eating cake together with your child on the birthday - there are so many positives which come from this
Having some drinks with an old friend who needs to talk - friends are priceless, this won't hurt you
Enjoying cultural events by partaking in its food and drinks - many things in life can not be replaced
So you get the picture. Living fit isn't about sporting six-pack abs year-round (but can include this) until you get married then adopting the beer belly. Living fit is about an eternity of choices and actions that lead to your physical betterment as your life continues on from phase-to-phase and relationship-to-relationship. The greatest thing I love about the fitness lifestyle is that it's never too late to begin with. This is an incredible concept that has changed the lives of millions, myself included, also it can do the same for you if you so choose.
I challenge you to take a long look at many of the lifestyle choices you now make and consider methods to incorporate a healthier fitness mindset into those ideas to be able to create and build a lifestyle that will supply you with a great level of fitness out of this moment forward. That you can do it! Living fit is a choice and that choice is yours.