By Naomi Rabon, NW Fitness Team Trainer
 

To have success in fitness, you have to find activities you enjoy doing and foods you enjoy eating. If you hate it and complain every second, I promise it’s not going to last. That is the key to long-term results. ~ Nicole Wilkins
 

It’s no secret that if you dread doing something, you are not likely to do it very often – if ever at all. This is true in any situation: a job, house-hold chores, playing sports, classes at school, etc.

We all have relationships with different areas of our lives and the people we come in contact with along the way. Some of these relationships can feel positive and enjoyable, while others aren’t so positive and anything but enjoyable.

And others, while not necessarily enjoyable, are definitely necessary – such as house-hold chores like laundry, dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, etc.
 

DON’T IGNORE YOUR HEALTH

Whether we like it or not, we have a relationship with our body and this includes our level of health and fitness (or lack thereof). Some people go most of their lives ignoring this aspect of their lives, until they start experiencing a decline in their health and poor fitness-related daily struggles, such as lack of energy, feeling tired after walking up a few flights of stairs or a decrease in strength levels.

You can only ignore your health for so long – you will be forced to pay attention to it one day. And if you wait until you are forced to pay attention to it, that’s never a good thing.
But since you are a member of this site, you are most likely more proactive about your health and fitness and are not among those who turn a blind eye until health-related issues start creeping up.
 

WHAT’S YOUR PREFERENCE?

For many people, though, just the mere thought of daily exercise and eating nourishing foods on a regular basis is enough to make them run in the opposite direction. How can someone actually enjoy exercising, especially if it’s intense, challenging and painful? And let’s not even get started on eating ‘boring,’ bland health food!

The truth is that different people find different ways of exercising tolerable or ‘doable,’ – maybe even enjoyable. There are also hundreds of different ways of incorporating healthy changes in your diet that don’t require deprivation, starvation or anything that seems like punishment or torture or … like a diet!
 

HOW TO FIND YOUR “SWEET SPOT”

Here are a few tips to find the optimal fitness program – exercise routine, way of eating, food preferences, etc. – that will work with your personal schedule, abilities, preferences, schedule and goals.

1. Check Your Current Status Where are you right now with your health and fitness? Do you feel like you have a good handle on your program and your current state of health? Do you have regular doctor’s check-ups and know how you’re doing internally? Cholesterol numbers, hormone levels, blood pressure, etc.? Are you sure your fitness program – your strength-training and cardio – and your nutrition programs are tailored to your goals?
 

2. Recognize What You Can Do Be realistic about what you are able to commit to with regard to your health and fitness. How much time can you commit to workouts and planning your meals? Part of enjoying exercise and eating healthy is knowing you have carved out specific time for it, so you don’t stress over it and end up feeling like it’s just another thing to check off your ‘to-do’ list.
 

3. Find Joy In Your Workouts & Daily Food Intake If you don’t enjoy working out by yourself and think traditional weight-training is boring, there are so many alternatives that you might find enjoyable! Find a class, or find an environment that you feel is exciting and fun for you. Find your joy in exercise by seeking out different methods, techniques or workout styles that you will actually look forward to incorporating in your workouts.

The same is true for finding a way of eating that is healthy but sustainable for you over the long term. If you don’t feel like you could manage beyond a temporary basis, then try to incorporate a way of eating healthy – or at least healthier – one you feel you could stick with for the rest of your life.
 

4. Recognize Your Strengths And Weaknesses Recognize which areas of your health and fitness may need some work, and which areas you feel you excel at. For example, maybe you love cardio but need to work more on incorporating resistance training.

Or maybe you feel you are great at eating healthy during the week but once the weekend rolls around it’s a completely different story. Recognizing your strengths and weaknesses will help you focus on areas that will balance out and improve your overall health and fitness.
 

5. Keep Yourself In Check Every so often, revisit point #1 above and check yourself. Our relationship with health and fitness is an ever-evolving thing that grows and changes. You may find that at one point, you really enjoy a certain way of working out but eventually it becomes mundane and unenjoyable. Maybe you’ll discover new and different ways to exercise that rekindle your passion for working out and eating healthy and lead to a revitalized, energized and motivated you!
 
 
 

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One of the trainers on Nicole’s elite NW Fitness Training Team, Naomi is a certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She is a NPC Figure competitor who has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 12 years.
 
Go here to find out more about training with the NW Fitness Training Team!