How To Create a Fit Mindset

OVER THE years that I’ve worked with individuals starting or maintaining an active physical fitness routine I have witnessed a less than important attitude about proper working out. Notice the emphasis is on the word “proper.” In most cases, we either do not exercise enough or we do too much. Let’s take a closer look at this thought. A key component for creating a fit mindset is our attitude. For most of us there are two categories of attitudes: reasons we exercise and reasons we do not: Reasons we exercise:

1. Exercise as part of diet reduction program.
   • • There isn’t a reason to continue after losing weight.
     • Effect: The weight is usually regained when we stop exercising.
   • Exercise so we have justification for eating unhealthy foods.
     • OK, when we are younger. Not an effective strategy as we age.
     • Effect: The lack of proper portion control and unhealthy eating contributes to many of our diseases.
   • Exercise to look and feel good.
     • This starts with toning the body for women and muscle mass development for men.
     • Effect: Improper obsessive exercising, in which the end justifies justify the means, and is harmful to the body resulting in unnecessary pain and injuries.

Reasons we do not exercise:

1. If we are losing weight we don’t think we need to exercise.
   • The muscles atrophy: when skin is not stimulated it hangs unsightly from the body.
   • Effect: Lack of knowledge and understanding of the process and the differences between weight loss and inches loss.
2. If not overweight, we don’t think exercise is necessary.
   • We have been told and believe that high metabolism and not eating is the key.
   • Effect: Develop eating patterns and disorders coupled with poor self image and a lack of confidence.
3. Would be embarrassed, not an athlete.
   • Lack coordination. Equate exercising with being an athlete.
   • Effect: Some will develop cardiovascular disease and gain weight resulting in hypertension and many other diseases associated with lack of being active.

Whenever we start a physical fitness program, most of us start with a vague notion of what we want to accomplish, but forget that we must go through a process for achievement. Therefore, I can’t express how crucial it is that before we begin any physical fitness routine, we truly need to know and understand what we want to accomplish and why. It seems that many of us can’t connect the dots and recognize that some of our health problems may be the result of our mindset and our lack of being physically active.

The way we think about how we look and feel is shaped by our past, present and future perceptions and attitudes, and our beliefs, rational or irrational, and will directly affect whether it’s worth our time or effort to start or maintain a fit mindset. Our mindset is also an important determinant in managing daily challenges such as time, knowledge, relationship, life events, money and work. At any given time these six daily challenges can start or end our effort. However, when we make a conscious effort to maintain awareness between our mind, body and emotions, we will begin to understand that our attitude toward being physically active is the key to maintaining directional behavior for a fit mindset.

For example, when one or more of our daily challenges cause a distorted view in our perception and attitude, the inevitable consequence is a disconnection of the positive loop between our mind, body and emotion. However, when there’s none, too little or too much exercising it can cause an inability to effectively deal with many disappointments and the impact they can have on our health. Whatever your reasons are for exercising or not exercising, don’t lock yourself into a closed mindset that justifies maintaining your mental, physical or emotional status quo. The underlying theme of creating a fit mindset is that being physically active is not a mystery; it is an essential element to our overall mental and physical well-being, Until next time, “Believe in yourself, Think independently, Persist even when change is slow and above all, Take care of you”..