Sometimes health and fitness has little to do with what you eat, drink or think. As a personal trainer in Dublin I can testify to the fact that those who succeed in keeping a lean physique make it part of their schedule. But like anything it takes practice.
I mean it is a large part of it of course but the application of it is far removed from the plan sometimes.
We have the knowledge, the power and the motivation to apply it. We start in earnest and drop like a stone after a week. Why is this?
In my experience a large part of this is actually down to poor time management that in turn drives up stress levels and then makes the whole process rather painful.
I’m afraid that women are the worst too.
Your Home Environment
From Minister for Home Affairs, to Professional Chauffeur, to Agony Aunt to Mates, to Official co-ordinator for Play Dates AND holding down a career with a husband who’s idea of pulling his weight is to move from couch to TV and back.
The ‘me’ becomes lost beneath a weight of ‘more important’ stuff and before you know it you are playing catch up to self-neglect with the muffin top shouting away at you to do something about – and guess what – you want to but are just toooo tired.
Here are few time management strategies that a few of my successful clients have deployed like heat seeking missiles to drive past the clutter in their lives and find a route to health and the body they want.
Firstly they understand that they need time to train and eat healthy on a daily basis.
And believe or not you have exactly the same 24 hours as every one else. It is how you use it.
Your Mountain
Recognise this too – the mountain will always be there.
There will always be a mountain of paperwork, housework, cleaning, cooking, ironing. How you reframe this continuous cycle will be solely up to you.
Will you be constantly battling the mountain and your inability to never reach the summit no matter how hard you try.
Or will you reframe this to your advantage and approach the mountain with a “well its always there, let’s just deal with it as best I can” approach?
One of my former clients found that she had the most energy in the morning and was most productive. Her mountain was the morning routine.
She would get up before the kids and do her training session in the wee hours and then sit down for a breakfast on three out of the seven mornings EVERY WEEK. It was tough at the start. Like any habit but the point is here that she the time of day that was best for her and stuck with it.
The Habit of Early to Rise
Getting in the habit of ‘early to rise’ will serve you well. Start tomorrow with 10 minutes earlier. The following day 10 minutes earlier still, and so on until you have a time that you feel comfortable with. It works both ways too. Get to bed earlier!!
Equally shutting off for an hour or two a day will work wonders for a quick recharge. Walk, sleep, meet with a friend. Stop what you are doing and take it easy. Stress levels will be lowered and you will have more energy to muster for that training session in the evening.
I don’t know anyone who lost a tonne of weight and is healthy who don’t visualise and proactive what they will eat the following day. That means that you a) become proactive to the deli counter rather than reactive which normally results in a knee jerk reaction towards a nice wheaty sandwich with some excuse for a filling and b) you are prepared for the worst.
As a consequence they take some left-overs with them the following day. Nothing fancy. Maybe a salad with some dressing and nuts in a Tupperware box. (Side Note ‘Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail’ !!). They may take their Greens Drinks too in a flask.
You can learn from the masters of business too by delegating. Teach your child to clean up after him/herself and even take over the household washing. Too complicated for them to use? No more complicated than their Iphones. This will free up more time for you to train and eat healthy. Teach it – supervise it – delegate and trust! Simple.
You could get your husband off his arse too. Been at work all day. Boo-hoo. Toughen up and do your bit. Besides whilst you are tucking into your third Rich-Tea your wife is out doing her bit to look awesome for you. There’s another couple of hours every week freed up for you.
At the end of the day you are the master of your circumstances when it comes to either getting a result of teeing yourself up for yet another excuse of “but I’m tired” or “there are not enough hours in the day”. Guess who spins their wheels?
John Lark is a personal trainer in Dublin.
Learn more about Sphere D2 Fitness and how you can go about applying for the 7 Day Kickstart to take your training to the next level in Dublin City Centre.
