The Secret to Staying Fit Forever

I’ll be the first one to tell you that I want the quick fix. I want to just take a pill and have my problem go away forever. But then I get realistic I realize the path to my success depends on hard work and consistency.

Hard work and consistency are the keys when it comes to staying fit forever. Long-term fat loss and the key to lose weight lies in this very “secret.” Most people get pumped up to go to the gym but unfortunately end up NOT sticking with their goals. They get so worked up and dive in head first to a training program that they get burned out & I’ll never see them in the gym again.

I’ll be real with you right now. Growing up I was so skinny that I had to run around the shower to get wet! I was finally starting to get fed up with it and I wanted a change so badly I decided the only way to do so was to take action.

So I signed up at my local Napa gym Healthquest, worked with a personal trainer and eventually started putting on some size! I was on the top of the world for that summer as I continued to put on 20 more pounds of pure muscle. I was on my way to living a life of fitness…

Unfortunately, as the winter rolled around and the days started getting colder I stopped making it to the gym. There’s was always an excuse that I was throwing around and it would be different every day. “I have to finish homework…I have to work so I don’t want to be sweaty…I just ate a big meal…Home Alone is on in a half hour…”

Whatever it was I knew I was slowly losing whatever I had that had gotten me where I wanted to go. Becoming successful is about having priorities and being able to complete them even when you don’t want to. I don’t ALWAYS want to work out but I’ll still force myself into the gym and fake it until I feel it.

That is the secret when it comes to staying fit forever.

Here are my Top 5 tips for you to stop slacking and get yourself fit forever.

* 1. Have a Positive Mental Attitude: Negativity is everywhere! Start with staying away from gossip and the news. Try meditating for just 5 minutes every morning to clear your mind and imagine positive things. This will undoubtedly increase your chancing of getting more accomplished.

* 2. Get a Workout Partner: I know it can get extremely hard to consistently work out all by yourself. Find somebody else who shares your enthusiasm and commitment. If they start to slack off then you might want to look for a new workout partner. If you can’t get a workout partner try joining a local bootcamp. When I’m training in Napa me and Scott Thom have been working out hard together for the past 8 years or so.

* 3. Prepare Prepare Prepare: When it comes to meals and my workouts I’ve always found I’m more successful when I take the time to prepare my meals and workouts. If I don’t prepare my meals then I’ll find myself starving and looking to chow down anything in sight. Plan your workouts ahead of time too so you’re not randomly throwing together exercises and are using your time efficiently.

* 4. Create Goals for Yourself: Having clear cut goals of what you want to achieve and actually writing them down will lead you to become more consistent and successful with your workouts. Place the goal somewhere you can see it every day, I recommend the refrigerator. You’re more likely to be disciplined when you see your goal in front of you all the time. I’ve also found short term goals to be more successful, like what you want to accomplish today and this week.

* 5. Always Keep Learning: I’m not saying you have to dedicate your life to reading fitness literature but try reading a blog or a magazine every once in a while. Learn new exercises and start connecting with the people working out around you. You’ll learn great new ways to exercise and will improve your consistency by preventing your workouts from becoming boring.

Now back to my original keys to long-term fitness success…hard work and consistency. Just because you go to the gym doesn’t mean you’re automatically getting great results. Strategized hard work is going to going to be the other piece to the puzzle to you achieving your fitness goals forever. In the end it’s all about making lifestyle changes, which are going to take time. But taking action on something everyday will build up faster than you think. Always pushing yourself a little bit out of your familiar zone will keep your body progressing. Imagine if you were playing the piano and just played “chopsticks” all day…it would be easy but you would never be able to play Beethoven.