As we speak, a million voices are screamed into the collective consciousness. Are they praying for world harmony? Are they seeking guidance? Are they asking for guidance? No. They want an easy way to lose weight. They want to be fit and healthy, have great abs, and wear the same jeans as high school. They are looking for a miracle diet or fad-of the-week fitness program that will deliver the results they want without any effort. It’s not possible to find a magic lamp beyond Agrabah. You’re likely to gain weight while you search for the miracle program. Statistics show that over half of people who begin a fitness program quit within the first 12 months. Average people exercise less than two days a week. 96% of men have admitted to skipping workouts on more than one occasion because it was in conflict with another activity.

Exercise

Why is this so difficult? Why is it that exercise and eating well are the most important things we can do for our bodies, but we don’t value them as much? Why is it that people don’t care as much about their bodies? Why is it that so many people fail to exercise? People fail because they don’t align their values with fitness and health. People fail because they alter their diets, but not their beliefs about food. People fail because they see exercise as something they have to do every day. People fail because they don’t believe that they can succeed. Ask any fitness guru, or any real fitness guru, how they do it and you’ll almost always get the same answer: they just do it (like Nike). You don’t see what they believe about fitness, nutrition and overall lifestyle.

You don’t see the values these people hold that drive them to success. Imagine what it would look like if you decided to change your lifestyle instead of following a diet. Imagine what it would look like if you stopped believing that exercise is a pain and instead chose to enjoy the moments on the treadmill, and even looked forward to them.

A Change

Don’t you think it’s time for a change? Let me share some beliefs about nutrition and health to help you get started. These beliefs are not something you should resist. Instead, give them a try. Try them on and take the time to really think about them. Allow them to wash over you. See if they don’t change the way that you view fitness and what you value most.

• Health and vitality are my top value. Remember how I said that 96% have skipped a workout due to something else? Imagine living your life believing that the most important thing in your day is the sixty minutes you spend on a machine, a weight bench, or a bike. How would that change your life? How would you find the time for your workouts? It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you set your mind to do it. You’ve made excuses all your life for not being able to exercise. I’m telling that you should make excuses for why you can workout. It’s easy to find the time when you do it for a while.
• I don’t live to eat; I eat to live. Did you know that food is a major part of our lives? Where do business partners go when they get together? To lunch. What do you do when you want to host a family reunion? You organize a picnic and call it “reunion.” You go on a date. Where do you take him/her? It’s amazing how we have come to believe that these events must happen with food around. It is crazy to believe that food is necessary in order to gather people. We are so crazy that we think it’s RUDE to not offer food or drinks to anyone who comes into our home. What does this say about our values, when our culture is so focused on food? It’s time to change your beliefs. We eat to live, not the other way around. Food is a source for energy and nutrition. It is not a conversation starter, doesn’t fill our emptiness and certainly it’s not entertainment. It is a crutch that we use in difficult situations. It helps to relieve tension and find a point of focusing that isn’t on ourselves. It’s time to realize that it’s okay to focus on yourself. It’s okay to confront your insecurities. It’s okay to decline a meal we don’t want or eat a piece of cake offered by a friend.
• Exercise is fun. Do you find this too simple? It sounds like it is not that easy to do. It’s partially true. Problem is, people don’t know how to exercise properly. They believe that if their skin isn’t soaked in sweat, their joints don’t ache, and they don’t sink into bed at night, they didn’t do a proper workout. False. True. Exercise is fun when done correctly. You will feel the “burn” when you hit the target heart rate, but it’s not as intense as you might imagine. Overworking yourself doesn’t result in fat burning. You’re actually burning glucose, which causes your body to lose muscle. This is actually more harmful than helpful. I recommend that you get a heart rate monitor. It can be used to monitor your heart rate and help you exercise more often.

Aging

See how you feel when your heart rate reaches 180 – Your Age. Is that too difficult? It’s not so difficult, is it? It’s not that bad. You are probably working at your optimum heart rate to burn fat. You can increase the intensity of your training over time, but that’s all you really need. This isn’t so difficult is it? These three beliefs can be helpful. Realize that this is a mental game. Most of us are already psyching ourselves out of the game before we even begin. Accept your new lifestyle. Push your beliefs to new heights. You will be amazed at the simplicity of your success.