Generality or Meaningful Specific
Scaling Exercise and Diet (Life Project)
Medium.com:~David Lee Stories$
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Health_Fitness
Self_Awareness
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It’s 2017!
(I know, you’ve already seen a hundred posts that start with it)
But it’s 2017! Time for two week resolutions and 50 weeks of motivating yourself daily.
Oh sorry…guess no one told you that part…
Well let me put it into a different light. You now have 50 weeks to make an impactful decision — to work hard towards a particular goal you have or to stay where you are which is fine. Goals are great especially when it relates to your health, but how do you continue the hamster wheel of exercise motivation and completing your goal year after year? Have you asked yourself if there are tools and resources available for my unique needs?
Yes, absolutely there is. The thing is, unless you are willing to either:
A.) Commit to your self for a positive change
B.) Recruit the services of a pro to keep you accountable
You’ll likely last 3–4 weeks before you decide to drop what you were doing in favor of spring break vacation, summer road trips and fall holiday prep (which means deciding how much you need to save to buy presents for x-mas). Now here me out, i’m not saying to NOT enjoy your life through vacas and small weekends trips — I believe we all need balance in our lives.
Yet many people aren’t willing to live in the “Grey” area, they want to stay in black and white because it’s easier and more comfortable. I’ve seen it with friends and colleagues for many years who, after 10+ years, are still trying to figure why they fluctuate in weight, get injured every year playing tennis/basketball/picking up their nephew, can’t stick with one fitness training for more than 1–2 months and then complain about how hard it is to achieve their goals.
Is exercising and eating healthy hard? Not really.
Okay okay calm down, listen it’s not that it’s easy or hard but put it into perspective. If I gave you a basketball and you never had played a game of basketball in your life, then I encouraged you to play basketball for the next 60 days — each and every day do you think you would stay consistent with it? Perhaps, maybe deep down inside your inner Allen Iverson would awaken and you’ll be cashing in $20 a night in pick up games at Central Park.
OR
You stop playing after 2–3 days because you have no idea of what you’re doing; no clue on the rules, how to shoot, how to dribble what a pick and roll is etc. It’s a bit ego deflating and frustrating so you quit.
Sound familiar?
Same thing that happens when people start a new exercise and nutritional program. They have no idea what they’re doing, what a “macro” is or how the heck to get in the smith machine that looks it might be the door way into a laser hall trap.
Most people look at fitness and nutrition through the lens of being a “Generality”, the attitude behind it is that of:
- Immediate ROI (Return on investment)
- Reduced TCO (Total cost of ownership)
- 1–3 month deadline
- Indefinite results after project completion of 3 months max
Sounds like a SOW (Statement of Work) for a Project Manager to look over, I thought we were talking about fitness here???
Well look closely at what was provided. How much time do you want to invest in losing 15 pounds, gain 2 inches in your arms and butt and fit into your favorite pair of pants from 3 years ago? Most likely the shortest amount of time right? You also don’t want to have to hold yourself accountable, other wise you would have already lost the weight and blasted your IG/FB feed with all of your results! Time frame is key, you don’t wish or cannot afford to spend more than 3 months for any given program.
There are vacations to think about, kids tuition, tax year, insurance policies and everything else tax paying citizens need to consider. Time is of the essence and I get it.
So now the questions really is, if you aren’t willing to put in effort that scales you can’t realistically expect quality work and results to come into your life. It’s not so much about how much you have to pay upfront, it’s what you end up paying 5–10 years later after you decided that a 3 month program to lose initial weight is all you need without acknowledging that your body will change, age and play weekly chess with your hormones and adrenals.
It’s not enough to have a 3 month plan, you need a life time plan that can scale with your age and offer sustainable practices through uncontrollable life stressors; groupons come and go, dis-ease and syndromes may last a life time if you don’t keep your body and mind healthy (nothing against groupons I think they’re great!)
So what’s the plan then Sherlock?
Become a “Meaningful Specific” — commit year after year to your health and not at the micro level, it must be at the macro level for you to get out of the pitfalls of F.A.D (Falsely Advertised Diets) and trendy exercise programs. How many people do you know who have done every trendy fitness program on earth year after year and still look and feel the same? My guess?
A LOTTTTTTT
It’s because they are okay with being a Generality, they truly don’t care that much if they gain a few pounds and then lose a few pounds. They may complain about it often but not to the point where it’s creating a negative energy about them. However, if you are the one that is complaining year after year and have felt the affects of multiple doctor visits, continuous RX use and have felt like giving up is the only way out then that is where this post will have the most impact to you.
It’s time to get out the rat race and start living as a meaningful and purposeful vehicle of health and vitality. There are many methods to the madness, plenty of programs can be utilized to create a hybrid system which can scale over time. What I wish to share are 5 Keys to unlocking the gates of wisdom for sustainable health and fitness in your life.
The Top 5 Keys
- Adaptable Fitness Program
- 80/20 Food Principle
- Caffeine Awareness
- Flexibility and Mobility
- Accept Failures
I’ll cover each one briefly as I will be creating a new article for each Key over the next 5 weeks. This way you can view each one with focus and attention rather then bombarded you with a 10 page blog post.
1.) Adaptable Fitness Program
Plateaus and Adaptation are what your body goes through most, without knowing what to look for and how to work either around or through the sticking points in exercise programs you’ll end up spending more time figuring out what works then actually seeing results.
2.) 80/20 Food Principle
Binge eating, F.A.D diets and guilt are the 3 chains common nutritional programs that have the “Ninjas” of losing weight and gaining lean muscle mass. You may not see anything happening in the first month, but you better be on the lookout because hidden in the shadows are bloated bellys, fatigue, chronic joint/muscle pain and a new pant size going up — not down.
3.) Caffeine Awareness
Coffee, Tea, Monster, 5-Hour Energy, you name it and most likely have tried them all to keep you going. There’s nothing wrong with gaining a little more energy throughout the day to stay focused and productive. Unless you start to realize you’re getting constipated, can’t go to the bathroom regularly, random skin rashes, insomnia and are becoming irritated when someone asks you, “How ya doin!”.
4.) Flexibility & Mobility
Muscles can become long and weak or short tight. Neither is a good scenario to be in, especially for those who sit in a chair for 8+ hours a day. Having a unique flexibility and mobility program will improve blood flow, oxygen through your body, loosen up muscle that are causing low back/head/neck pain and keep you healthy (or sitting down) well beyond the office space environment.
5.) Accept Failures
It’s part of the game, doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. Failures lend to wisdom which help you learn from your mistakes and THAT directly supports your future success both personally and professionally.
That’s it for now friends. Now go outside and!…
I mean get your running shoes on and!…
Okay call up a few buddies, get to the YCMA at 8:00PM for a pick up!…
Oh who am I kidding, check your Facebook feed for some dog dressed up as Michael Jackson for 3 minutes and have a good laugh. Life is stressful enough…
Or maybe you start taking action Today to live a healthier and stronger life. Body | Mind | Life
I hope you enjoyed reading this rant, philosophical expression, psycho-something or other post!
If you have 1 second (just one!) please comment or ❤ the post if you liked it! I believe in communication and community which is why i’m here.
Thanks a bunch and follow me around on my journey as a Powerlifter, Yoga Teacher, Holistic Lifestyle Coach and Techie.
Namaste!
