7 Essential Truths of Achieving Your Fitness Goals

Frederick Douglass once said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Nothing could be closer to the truth.

Regardless if you are just starting out, or you are trying to melt off that last little pound, ramp up the progress and turn down the struggle with these 7 essential truths of achieving your fitness goals:

1. Starting is the Hard Part. The allure of our final goal is often so daunting that it intimidates us into not starting at all. For some, the burden of perfectionism keeps starting at bay – always waiting for perfect circumstances, or when they “feel like it.” But how often have you delayed starting something, and then when you finally did, you thought to yourself, “Now that wasn’t so hard.” It’s exactly the same thing with your fitness goals. Get started, no matter how small the step is, and you’ll realize that it wasn’t so tough.

2. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others. It’s so hard not to, I realize this. We are constantly bombarded with unrealistic images of photo-shopped men and women. It can be difficult to tune out this constant barrage and фокус solely on your physique – but it is imperative to do so. Comparing yourself to people whose body type is different will only inflate unrealistic expectations. Your body, and ultimately, your results, will be completely different to you. Own it.

3. It’s Gotta Be You. No matter what your goals are, your fitness, weight loss or muscle-building goal has to be completely and utterly up to you. As mentioned above, society’s preconceived (mis)conceptions about what you should look like are difficult enough, but if you are working out to please someone else, eating healthy to make someone else happy, it will not last. You need to be the one to decide to live healthy.

4. There Will Be Trying Times. Motivation and inspiration ebb and flow just like everything else. There will be days where you jump out of bed and sprint to the gym. You’re diet will be bang on, and you’ll go to sleep dreaming of dumbbells and squat racks. Other days you’ll wake up with a black cloud over your head. Everything and everyone will try your last string of patience, and your first thought when it comes to the gym or eating that balanced meal will be, “f*** it.” The key will be in recognizing that these days will happen. Often these days are мейд worse by us thinking that they shouldn’t happen.

5. Failure is Only Fatal if You Give Up. Akin to what was discussed above, there will also be times where you miss a workout session, you splurge at dinner, or you go out and have a bunch of Jager for a friend’s birthday. Are these hiccups in the road fatal? Absolutely not. Don’t embrace an “all-or-nothing” attitude with your fitness goals. Doing it right 90-95% of the time will get you much further than expecting to get it right 100% of the time.

6. Keep It Simple. No matter how sure you are about how weight loss works, read an entire health magazine from cover to cover and tell me you don’t come back from it more confused than ever. There is a mountain of information out there regarding your health, about the newest and greatest way to live healthy, and to try to wade through it all would be a fool’s errand. The fundamentals behind healthy living have remain unchanged since the dawn of time. Whole and fresh foods and regular exercise. Next time someone tells you they have unlocked the secret to fat loss tune them out.

7. Doing It Completely Alone Makes it Much Harder. John Donne once said that “No man is an island,” and this expression is highly relevant here. No matter how individual the effort may seem, results depend upon a support system. Take swimmers for instance. They spend hours a day swimming back and forth, with little sound other than the splash of the water. In races they are up on the blocks by themselves, racing against 7 other individuals. There are no assists in swimming, but yet behind every successful swimmer is a mountain of support – parents who drove them to the pool, coaches who guided their development, therapists who helped soothe injuries, and so on. Don’t be afraid to reach out and develop your own support system; personal trainer, nutritionist, and so on.

Can you think of any other essential truths to achieving your fitness goals? Leave a comment below!