Fit to Post Health‘Turn off the tap’ to reach your health goals
I talked last week about things you can do in your daily life to improve your health. There are 100 days left in 2011, if you are still just as overweight or underweight, just as stressed or lacking energy, you have 100 days to change before it becomes another failed 2011 resolution.
One of the best analogies I have learned to teach clients about change is the "turn off the tap" analogy.
Imagine you have a bathtub or sink that happens to get clogged. To prevent it from overflowing, do you...
Start draining water as fast as possible?
Turn off the tap?
Logically, most people do no. 2.
Smart choice. And this applies to achieving health goals as well.
Here are some examples of what to do and what not to do.
I'm overweight. Do I...
Do extra exercise after or before a high refined starch meal to try and "burn off" the excess calories? OR...
Change my meals to unprocessed, healthy meats and veggies so my body stays in fat burning mode automatically?
Turn off the tap - Change your meals. It is almost impossible (it takes maybe 5-6 hours of physical activity per day) to "out train" a bad diet.
I have knee and back pain from jogging. But I love doing it. Do I...
Buy every knee guard and back brace in the physiotherapist shop so I can keep pounding the road. OR...
Get a proper therapist to take a look at my injury, and change my exercise routine to work around the pain, and to strengthen the parts that keep getting injured so they never get hurt again.
Turn off the tap - Get that injury sorted out. There are no prizes for being "gung-ho" when it comes to long term injury, especially if you are not a professional athlete. You should get strong for the sport or activity you want to participate in. Don't jump in too fast too soon and let that activity injure you.
I can't seem to lose my "man boobs" and "beer belly". But I can't give up my beer outings. Do I...
1. Try "light" beer. OR
2. Get friends who like activities which will help you to get closer, not further from your goals. Go hang out with people who like eating healthy food, climbing rock walls, lifting weights or rowing a dragon-boat.
Turn off the tap - Getting rid of "problem areas" can be done, but not if you keep on doing the same things that got you into the problem in the first place! Alcohol causes man-boobs because it requires an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase to detoxify in your liver.
This process depletes zinc which is important in preventing a chest fat storage pattern i.e. the less you get drunk, the less you will have to worry about a saggy chest (or buttocks for ladies).
I'm sure you can think of many other areas in which your life would be better if you "turned off the tap" of some habits or activities. Take a deep breath, decide to do it and get going. Think less, change more!
100 days to go. It will be incredible how much you are able to change.
For the best fitness boot camp program, ExpressFIT program in the CBD, and personal training in Singapore visit www.genesisgym.com.sg or the Genesis Gym facebook page. Or visit Coach Jonathan's homepage and blog at www.coachjon.com
