Let's take a look at the current state of the health and fitness industry.
Our access to information regarding 'how to lose weight' and 'making healthier food choices' has never been more prevalent. We are also in a time where we have never had so many exercising options, fitness facilities or health professionals available to us.
For example, if your Facebook feed isn't already covered with health-related topics, a Google search of 'Facebook pages about health' will produce about 288,000,000 results in 0.58 seconds.
The one thing these pages and health professionals won't tell you is that we are getting unhealthier as a nation.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 63% of Australian Adults are overweight or obese. By 2025 this is predicted to rise to over 80%.
According to the Australian Heart Foundation Over half (55.7%) of Australians are trying to lose weight. However, only 30% of Australians who are obese described their weight status as obese. Furthermore, only one in three obese people are concerned about their weight.
Being overweight or obese (high BMI) is the second highest contributor to burden of disease, after dietary risks. Smoking is the third highest.
Now ask yourself this question.
With all this information and access to help why are we getting unhealthier as a nation?
"You see in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action"
These trends have led us to believe, as health and fitness professionals, that poor health and nutrition related choices made day to day do not stem from knowing what to do, but rather actually doing it!
While I can reason that achieving a healthy lifestyle is simple, I can understand for most people it is not an easy process. Getting out of bed in the morning and battling your emotions to go to the gym is not an easy task, but for most able-bodied people the process of doing it is simple. Likewise, the temptation of eating that last slice of cake is hard to turn down yet the act of not eating it is rather simple. Therefore, it could be said that for most people, being overweight or obese is a matter of choice. If this sounds familiar, the question we must ask yourself is, "What's the ultimate price I'll pay if I don't stop this behaviour now?"
"One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the average man's familiarity with the word 'impossible'. He knows all the rules which will not work. He knows all the things that cannot be done"
It's our decisions, not our conditions that determine how our lives unfold. For instance, one year from now will come around just like every year. The question is; 'Who will you have become? How will you live? And what will you look like?' Over that year, the difference between your reflection in the mirror and your favourite inspirational role model, with the toned, healthy physique and lifestyle, will come down to what they have done differently to you in the exact same situation. It must be understood that different actions produce vastly different results.
Think about it.
What were they doing while you were loving the sound of your own excuses. If we want greater direction in our lives and achieve things we 'believe' impossible, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. Without making consistent decisions towards your health and success you will be swept up in life's currents. Current events, current trends and current excuses.
Using the tool of choice and decision, you are able to do what you know and get past any excuse that sounds good at the time and change any part of your life in an instant. What if I told you I had a guaranteed way to lose weight, and all you had to do was make the decision to do it! Would you? Of course you would. As long as you value your health and understand it is possible. What's the worst that can happen once you truly decide to take action towards your dreams
"You can always quit, so why quit now?"
If you truly desire any positive change in life your efforts must be consistent and long-term. For the average person, a change in behaviour is often approached with an unfair sense of fear and dread because for most people, deep down they believe new changes in their life will not be long term.
A common example of this idea that you may relate to is when you decide to start on a 'dreaded' diet. Diets are often attempted with little enthusiasm and effort because you subconsciously believe that whatever pain is endured in order to create change will only be short-term. Pain and pleasure is a topic that requires a whole other article but quickly, it is hard to attempt a diet on pure willpower and little accountability simply because your beliefs tell you that you need to restrict your eating and give up everything you love in order to get any results.
The amount of pain that is linked to these sacrifices short term is more than the pain that is linked to being overweight long term, therefore the change is not worth the pain. Where did this belief come from? How has this been reinforced into our subconscious? What if the changes required for noticeable differences in health do not need to occur like that!
"The past does not equal the future"
For any change in life you need to approach the process in three steps. Firstly you must raise your awareness. At any time in life where the pain of not changing outweighs the pain of change, the first thing you must do is raising your awareness. This simply means that you must be aware of three parts of your life that you will no longer tolerate in holding you back from your dreams. You must identify three aspects that you aspire to become. Once you have become aware, you need to develop a new set of standards on how you want to live.
Without setting this reference point for what will be accepted in life, how is it possible to filter out old behaviours and focus on new attitudes in controlling your outcome.
Secondly, an important process to achieving your dreams is changing your limiting beliefs. If you raise your standards in order to control your outcome, but don't actually believe that it is possible to meet these new standards, you have already sabotaged your transformation. For instance, how motivated would you be heading into work for a company that you believed offered no long-term reward or happiness?
My guess is that you won't even try.
Missing the sense of certainty that allows us to tap into our deepest ability forces us to battle our emotions at every step in order to feel 'motivated' to achieve anything. If you have limited belief all you will receive are limited results.
The third step of the process is simple; get a plan. If we constantly have the same routine, life will deliver the same result. It's similar to a fly miserably banging itself against the same window, believing it will fly through the glass. If you feel you have come to the end of the road with nowhere else to go you must ask, have we really tried every resource out there to achieve our desires? If you set a higher standard, get yourself to believe then there is no reason as to why the universe won't deliver what you want.
"Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you"
Cameron Bartlett - Vision Personal Training Surrey Hills
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
