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Today's fitness world imposes upon us 3 dangerous myths disguised as inspiration:
You must stay motivated.
Fitness is a destination that's all about hitting your goal.
If you workout harder, results will come faster.
THIS IS TRASH! Let's clean it up a bit.
There are 2 very important definitions for the word, MOTIVATION: (1.) The general desire or willingness of someone to do something and (2). The process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Let's face it. We won't always have the drive to push ourselves every single day when our lives are occupied by so many different energy and emotion-draining obligations. The truth is, you won't always be motivated. So you must learn to be disciplined (showing a controlled form of behavior) and committed (feeling dedication and loyalty to a cause) because in the end, real motivation, like real fitness, is a PROCESS (a series of actions or steps). So don't beat yourself up about not being HYPE to push your workout everyday! Start small and grow. Feelings and desires are temporary. Commitment is long-term. Which brings us to our next myth:
When you drive a car off the lot, it will never be new again. But you can keep up with maintenance work. You can take it to the car wash, get the new car smell and feel amazing about your ride. You can even get it detailed and customized to look and work better than it did when you bought it. Now how many of us treat our cars better than we treat our bodies??? As long as you, by the grace of your maker, continue to wake up every morning, your body is working, adapting, changing, conditioning, and deconditioning. The state of your body is like a snowflake. Every single moment, it exists in a different state. Even if you reach your goal weight or body fat percentage, you still have to work to MAINTAIN it. So there's no way fitness can be like the end of a marathon where you cross the line and run through the tape to slow dramatic music then finally go back to normal life. The truth is, it was your "normal" life that led you to the state you so badly wish to detail and make new again. Fitness is not a destination. You don't "get fit". You get more fit or less fit. You can't just REACH your goal. You have to continuously create new, UNIQUE, relatable, attainable, and progressive goals. AANNNNNNDDD just like that we are brought to our final myth:
This is probably the most dangerous; the idea that you can dry up a pool with a napkin if you wipe hard enough. The idea that you can cut down a tree with a steak knife if you're strong enough. The idea that you can cut your lawn with your kid's craft scissors if you just get low enough to the ground. STOPPIT! If, up to now, you lived a lifestyle tainted by unhealthy habits, it will take a lifestyle of healthy habits to clean it up. If you fell off your game for 1 year, it will take 1 year PLUS the time to counter the effects of stress, aging and all the other fun treats life throws at us. So what's the point of even killing our bodies to place goals over our heads instead of in front of us? You will burn out before you are even lit. Fitness has to be about becoming a better person. Not transforming your body into some unattainable image. Get off the scale! Get out of the mirror! Focus on and find a way to enjoy the process. Put your head down and just make it part of your life. Then you'll look up one day and instead of realizing your older, you'll realize you're better. You must approach it from all areas of fitness then bring it full circle by attacking the parts of health we can't see when we look in the mirror or peak at the scale through watery eyes.
Check out these 2 images! If you want REAL, attainable, and long-lasting fitness, reflect on these images! THIS is the key to fitness success. And if you need more assistance, check me out at www.ASAbodypt.com
-Yours in health, real fitness, and total wellness, Akosua Akoto
