First of all,
One of the biggest challenges as a coach is guiding people through their health and fitness journey and seeing them successfully come out the other side with their goals achieved.
For a lot of people there are so many challenges along the way that succeeding can seem a very tough ask or even impossible.
It gets even harder if that person has no concept of how they will feel physically, mentally and emotionally if they stay the course. Most unhealthy people have been unhealthy for so long that they can’t understand feeling any other way. Unhealthy, tired all the time, no motivation to be active, etc. is simply there norm and a part of ‘who they are’.
Because telling them how they will feel is meaningless to them one of the most powerful tools we have as coaches is story telling. Telling and showing them stories about people just like them who have succeeded in doing what they want to do is a powerful thing and can so often be the turning point for so many people.
And believe it or not, I use to be just like so many of the people that I now help. I use to smoke, partly all the time, eat so much shit that I almost got an ulcer, was severely stressed out of my head, drank 12 bottles of coke/lucozade a day and no exercise even though I was telling everyone else to do it.
What a clown
And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, Christmas time was when In really turned up the ante and went to town. Looking back at it all now, the only way I could describe how I felt was fucking horrible and I was paying the price.
Thankfully I got a bit of sense along the way and now I really enjoy Christmas, because I see it in a much different light than I used to.
Here’s my plans for this year. Hopefully you’ll find something useful in it.
Guilt free
If I feel like some chocolate, extra food, lazing on the couch for a few hours or binging on a few movies (baby permitting of course) then I’ll do it without giving it a 2nd thought. The key here is that I’ll have plenty of healthy stuff to balance it out.
Rest and recover
A massage, little work, hobbies, playing a bit of banjo, plenty of sleep and tons of good nutrition (water, veg, unprocessed proteins, etc.) are all on the agenda.
My daily meditation also fits in here which is currently at 7 minutes a day.
Activity
Plenty off fresh air walks and 3 gym sessions a week are easily managed over the next few weeks. In a society that is so, so, so inactive (and paying a heavy price for it) keeping myself moving over the Christmas holidays is such a manageable thing to do. It takes a bit of work between myself snd my wife to organise our daughter but thats no big deal.
I’ll also be doing my daily mobility and corrective work each day. This is simply a bit of foam rolling, stretching and muscle activation drills while I’m watching a bit of tv.
Plenty of socialising
I love just meeting up with people for coffee, sitting on the couch chatting, heading out for breakfast, etc. Simple stuff but so important for a quality life.
Lots of study
I don’t class this as work. I love reading blogs, watching videos and catching up on books related to my profession so I’ll definitely be sneaking off to starbucks for a few hours over Christmas for a bit of this.
Planning for 2016
I love writing out my goals and getting started on them before the new year arrives. I feel that early start makes all the difference to whether or not I succeed.
That’s kind of it. Very simple, very manageable and very balanced. A huge turn around from how things used to be.
I hope this gives you a few good ideas for yourself and if I don’t see you before Friday, have a great few days.
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