Getting in shape is a journey. Getting healthy is a journey.
Journeys, unlike routes, wander. They seem like they are going off course, then lead you to unimaginably great discoveries. They involve steps would not have known about it until you were on your way.
They kind of take a while. It’s not always obvious when they start or end. Or if they end.
So… Back to that part where you get a perfect six pack and can run a five minute mile. While doing 10 dead hang pull-ups.
It’s really important every day journey, because it’s not a one time thing.
How did you get out of shape in the first place?
Whether it was school, a relationship, a job, hello your own personal reasons, something got ahead of line in the priority to you and took the time and energy that might have gone into taking care of yourself.
Just because you get in shape doesn’t mean that won’t happen again.
And after a few months at a new job, or in a different relationship, or caring for an an ailing relative, or whatever life throws your way, you might find yourself out of shape again.
It happens.
This is a huge part of why I train how I train.
I don’t want to see you back where you started in a year. I want you to make sustainable changes and learn what works for you to reach the goals you have for yourself.
(And, um, yeah, the majority of my clients do get there, some of them as quickly as two months.)
This is your health. You know, that thing that affects how you feel every day, how much energy you have, if you can walk miles of cobblestone streets in your favorite cities, if your body can tolerate a pastry at your favorite cafe or not. I don’t want a short-term fix with long-term problems. Call me crazy.
This is why we take nutrition one step at a time rather than jumping on a “meal plan” or loading up on supplements and protein shakes.
This is why we start with the fundamentals of your basic movement patterns and then build strength, explosive power, endurance, agility, and flexibility from there. (Did you even know we were doing all that?!)
I train this way because I know it is a lifelong journey. They might not choose to use them, but all of my clients have the right building blocks for them to succeed long-term after just their first six weeks of training with me. I don’t want the journey to be any more complicated, mystical, or painful than it has to be – I want it to be simple, so that when you get back to an echo of this in the future you’ll know how to handle it.
The way you do it matters.
Yeah, you can try driving 120 mph to cut the time of your commute in half, but the risks might outweigh the benefits there. 60 mph works great most of the time (I know, that’s a school zone speed here in Houston. Will I ever adjust to Texas??)
Nearly all of the women who have come to me “stuck” at a weight they don’t like in their 40s and 50s got there with attempted quick fixes, starvation, and other cumulative metabolic damage in their teens, 20s, and 30s.
The bill does arrive, just not for a decade or two.
The way you get in shape matters, because it’s what you’ll have to do to maintain your results long-term. The way you get in shape matters, because if you try to force your body to do things it isn’t ready for, it will rebel and likely to the opposite, or worse. The way you take this journey matters, because when you thought you were signing up to drop a few or get stronger, you were actually opening the door to taking even better care of yourself, which is kind of an every single day thing.
So, what kind of journey?
Are you going to trace and retrace the same block? Are you going to head off in any old direction and assume you’ll get there eventually? Are you going alone? With a novice guide? An expert guide? Will you have to ford the river and avoid cholera?
Choose whatever steps and journey feel right to you, but do make sure you’re choosing. It’s important! You’re important. Taking care of yourself is important. Even more important than that bikini/dress/jacket (although those are all cool, too).
I hope I’ll never have to be a yo-yo trainer. I hope I’ll always be able to help people fall in love with actually taking care of themselves, rather than trying to trick their bodies (won’t work) or hate themselves into shape (definitely won’t work). I am so grateful to be able to help people get and keep the results they want and, just maybe, learn to appreciate themselves inside and out a little more along the way.
