When most of us, mere mortals,
see a super well-built and fit person, the first thought that springs to mind
is “Wow! They must work out a lot!”
But what most of don’t know is
that actually there is much more to working out in order to be (and look!) fit.
I have mentioned here on this
blog several times that diet is much more important than exercise. That’s a
fact. Your body shape and composition is 70% influenced by what you eat and 30%
by how much you exercise.
But there is another less talked
about aspect to fitness - it’s a concept called mind over matter. Yes, all
professional athletes and those involved in the sports industry on a
professional level know about it. Yes, there are countless books (and courses)
on sport psychology.
And yet, considering the amount
of people that go to gyms or other types of non-professional fitness training,
there are disproportionate levels of awareness about this concept between the
pros and those trying to lead a healthy lifestyle.
If you’re a non-pro like me, here’s
a revelation. There are 3 important factors in achieving your top fitness levels:
1. Mind, 2. Diet and 3. Exercise.
For instance we often think we
can exercise only until our muscles start to burn and hurt, but physiologically
we can do more if we set our minds to it. We crave certain (not-so-healthy) foods,
when actually our bodies don’t need the extra empty calories and so forth.
This is why it’s important to
train our minds to think differently. Instead of saying that you want to lose
weight, tell yourself that you ARE losing weight. Instead of say you want to be
fitter/faster/stronger, say that you are fitter/faster/stronger (at least you
were fitter that yesterday!). This type of present-tense self-talk is a fuel
for positive behaviour and change.
It sounds easy, but takes time to
put into practice. We are all so good at sabotaging ourselves, that positive
thoughts may not be so easy to form. But the first step is to understand what
we are doing wrong and why. If you think of yourself as fat, slow, skinny,
unfit you are very likely to remain the way you are or even worse to turn these
thoughts into reality.
What could be the cause of these
thoughts? Could it be that you were often called fat when you were young and
now you are more likely to think of yourself as fat? You need to dig deep and
ask yourself some questions. And it’s not as scary as you think (turns out I am
too worried whether people will see me as arrogant and full of myself if I let
those positive thoughts influence my behaviour).
So in a way fitness is about much
more than looking good. It starts from within. The ultimate goal here is to
believe in yourself and to work harder to achieve your goals. Say that you are
losing weight and see that it will become much easier to forgo the chocolate
cookies passed around in the office. Say that you are fit and power through
that extra set of exercises.
Believe in yourself. If you don’t,
who will?