Get back in shape – It all comes down to one word

This is my why, what is yours?

Do you want to know how to get back in shape? We are going to be covering that in great detail. That is why we are here. If you are serious about getting back in shape and reading just our second blog post, how is not the most important question.

So what is the key to getting back in shape?

Before you can work on getting back in shape, and staying that way, you need to answer one question first, Why?

I know what you are thinking, “oh here we go, more motivational malarkey.” Well I can tell you from experience, if you want to get back in shape, you can start, but you will never finish if you do not have a why so powerful it drives you.

A few years ago I joined a gym. They had some sort of sale, and it was less than a mile from my house, so I joined. I was getting heavier than I wanted, and I knew I had to start working out again.

Over the next couple of years, that gym did remarkably well off me. In two years as a member I think I may have walked through the doors a dozen times. Maybe.

After the first year, I had been perhaps 8-9-10 time? So what did I do when got to the end of the first year? Well I re-upped for another year. This year was going to be different. It was different alright. I went somewhere closer to half as much as the year before.

Why did I not go? It is easy to see now that my why was not strong enough to drive me to go. I wanted to get back in shape, but obviously my desire was not strong enough to get me off my donut eating butt and get out the door.

So what is the difference between those who take off the weight they want and keep it off vs those who do not meet their goals? Their why is big enough. It simply comes down to that.

Things are different now. I realized my health was getting so bad that unless things changed, there was a decent chance I was not going to make it another 20 years. I realized I was setting a terrible example for my kids. Unless I changed something my kids would most likely follow the same unhealthy path I was traveling.

Why?

There are going to come days that you do not want to work out, or you do not want to eat healthily. An occasional deviation from the path is acceptable, but when you take that day off, every day after that you take off is going to make getting started again harder. You need that why to resist temptations and when you give in to get back on track.

Do you know that obesity has surpassed smoking as the leading cause of preventable deaths? I am going to pause here and let that sink in for a few second. Maybe you need to read that one more time. That right there should be a strong enough why to get back in shape.

Just carrying around ten extra pounds is estimated to shorten our life span by three years. Are you carrying around 30 extra pounds? Most of us are. That thirty pounds will cost most people seven extra years. I do not know about you, but I want to live to be older. I want to be an extremely active 80 year old traveling the world.

What is your why? It will be different for everyone, but everyone needs one.