3 Simple guidelines to a happier, healthier you

Too often I see people who are less than satisfied with themselves because of any number of variables: from wide hips to the shape of their nose. Here's some observations that, hopefully, will help you deal with those sorts of things, if indeed you need it.

1) Focus your attention on YOU. It's fine to get inspired by others' physiques, but you have to set your own personal standards. People tend to fixate on their weaknesses, while at the same time obsess over the strengths of others. That's a surefire way to stay eternally frustrated. It's a healthier approach to acknowledge your own strengths, and use them as benchmarks by which to bring up your weaknesses. Learn to give yourself a pat on the back for the improvements you make. Focus your attention on YOU, don't let the achievements of others dictate your obsessions.

Remember: you are great at being you and you really stink at trying to be someone else.

2) Question fitness advice given to you by others. "Why" is one of the most powerful words you can put in your vocabulary. Investigating the reasoning behind the advice will often reveal that the answer is "just because", rendering the advice anywhere from helpful, to dangerous, to just a plain waste of time and resources. I encourage my clients, friends, and colleagues to question everyone's advice, including mine. I firmly believe that the better you can sharpen your thinking, the better you can continue to sharpen your physique.

One thing I tell my fellow up and coming training colleagues is that it's O.K. to have someone do anything, provided you know why you're having them do it. In other words, it's O.K. to break the rules as long as you know what the rules are.

3) Minimize the number of variables you alter en route to the goal. This helps control the experiment, so to speak. For example, even though my focus is training, I still encourage people to leave their training alone if they're happy with it, and alter their nutrition regimen first. Then they can see how far they can get on that change alone. For all they know, that one change could have been all that was necessary, and eureka, there was no need to screw with the training. Once you get to a progress plateau, then you can re-examine your options. This example goes both ways. If someone loves their nutrition program, keep it in place but alter the training as minimally as possible for progress to occur. Of course, there are folks who don't have a clue as to what they're doing (or they've been lax in their effort and consistency), and need to start from scratch by laying out a plan that covers everything. Even in that case, the idea is to minimize the number of program alterations, and keep things simple.

I hope these few pieces of advice help you "get on down the road", so to speak, with greater ease, less stress and more enjoyment.

God bless,
Steve