ready to do it? For some people, the best first step toward becoming active is one that may seem paradoxically inactive: meditation. I often recommend that my clients ease into The Whole Life Fitness Power 30 by starting with just 15 minutes of mindfulness, and 15 minutes of personal development (there will be more in later chapters on how to spend that time).
This advice may come as a surprise, but I have found that dialling into your mind and spirit is a great place to start, because it offers a solid route to understanding the body’s purpose as the vehicle that takes you through life. Taking this type of holistic approach—looking at the mind as well as the body—really helps you to connect with your why. This prompts a mental shift into taking responsibility and acting decisively, instead of making excuses. It’s important that you avoid pointing the finger or offloading your excuses out-side of yourself. own them!
We’re all empowered to make our own decisions, and tuning into your internal world can make this truth real for you. Meditation can help you to gain a clearer perspective, and to call yourself out when you cast blame for your own self-sabotaging choices. If you’re living on fast food because you swear you don’t have time to prepare fresh, whole-food meals, you’ve validated your decision to remain unhealthy. Staying on this path reinforces the sense that health and fitness are not really your responsibility, and that you are powerless.
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When you tell yourself these lies, the bottom line is that you are choosing a why not instead of a why. You’re wasting your energy on the negative instead of the positive. And if you’re not making choices that stem from your why in life, then ask yourself: Who are you making these choices for? Whose dreams are you supporting? What results are you working toward?
When life goes sideways and you physically can’t make it to the gym, that doesn’t mean you can’t work out or move your body with purpose. Heck, no! You are your own best piece of gym equipment. Not only is your body free to use, but it’s nearly always available to you. Even if you are dealing with an injury, you can modify your movements so you can still work out. As long as you have a body, and you have the ability to move, you can exercise. bam!
The No Willpower Excuse
I hear a lot of people complain that they have no willpower. They tell me, “I want to work out but I always give up because I’m just too weak (willed).” I counter this excuse by telling people to find something that they enjoy doing, and then really feed their connection to that activity. You have to start by identifying your desires. Not every exercise will be right for you, but keep trying different things to see what you like. Think of it this way: You never have to find the willpower to indulge in something that you love, such as getting a massage, or laughing with friends!
Of course, working out takes more effort than getting a massage, especially at the beginning when you haven’t yet made it a habit. One way to help with motivation is to find someone to work out with, to be accountable to. Joining a fitness-based com-munity is a great way to source allies who can support you. We motivate each other, and celebrate our personal victories together. The idea is to hold one another to a certain standard and ensure that you follow through to reach a goal.
What if every single person you know is overweight and complacent, and nobody wants to work out with you? No problem! Through social media, I can connect you with some fantastic online communities, where there are both private and public fitness groups. Not only can we see what the other members are doing, we can also encourage and support each other. Members post recipes, inspirational video and audio clips, share struggles, console and uplift one another, and act as sources of accountability, which we all need from time to time. It’s all in the name of motivational
Kids should be the motivation why we want to be fit and not the excuse why we can’t.
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Dai Manuel’s Whole Life Fitness Manifesto
fun. There are also some engaging online tools, such as MyFitnessPal.com, and activity trackers, such as Fitbit, to help you gauge your progress against your health and fitness goals.
The No Space Excuse
I don’t care how small your home is, it’s big enough for you to work out in. All you really need is a space the size of, say, a bath towel, a yoga mat, or even a door-mat. You essentially want to create a little space for squats, push-ups, sit-ups, jogging on the spot and air skips. I’ll describe these and other exercises in more detail in Chapter 7.
If you’re a person who spends a lot of time on the road, I challenge you to never see this as a disruption to your fitness routine again. Most hotel rooms have a chair and a table, which you can use to create a mini-circuit for a 15-minute workout. You can even use the space between the wall and the bed. If you’re a regular traveller, you probably know your itinerary in advance; that is, you don’t likely just wake up in the morning and remember: Oh, I have to head to San Francisco today. So take a little time to plan for your health needs, and set yourself up to make good choices while you travel. This means carrying extra water (air travel can cause dehydration) and pack some healthy snacks, such as nuts and dried fruit. Remember that dehydration can be confused with hunger, so we often reach for the wrong foods when we’re groggy after a flight. Above all, try to resist the lure of aimless channel surfing on the bed in your hotel room. Try to get out for a quick run in your host city instead. Fifteen minutes is all you need. You can do it!
The Everybody Else Comes First Excuse
Too many of us simply don’t prioritize our own health and fitness. When everybody around us seems to need something from us, putting our needs on the table can feel selfish—we may even feel guilty for doing something just for ourselves. Well, I’ll be the first one to let you know that it’s okay to look after you. In fact, you’ll be better able to serve others by serving yourself first. When you understand and appreciate that, it puts your health into a different context. That is, neglecting your own health affects
You can work out in a space as small as a yoga mat.
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everybody you care about, and not in a good way. You owe it to yourself to be healthy, but you also owe it to those who are closest to you, and they should understand that.
When we’re not busy attending to our family’s needs we’re often at the beck and call of our employers. Perhaps you’re a person who thinks, I can’t take time for myself because my career demands so much of me. It’s true that getting the right work/life balance can be tricky, but short-changing ourselves where our health is concerned never pays off. Poor health can take a terrible toll on your job performance and career.
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