Smile: How to Make Fitness Happier
- Don’t suffer when changing your routine
- * What is PPP and how can it help you?
As you’ll know, I tend to take a different approach from that of “personal trainers” and it’s not just for the sake of being different or having a niche.
Fitness is more mental than it is physical. If you can’t start, then you’ll never experience the physical side. Also, if you can’t continue then again, you’ll not get very far.
Therefore, it’s vital to analyse the mental aspect and the WHY side. The recurring theme with a lot of books I’m reading is that happiness is created internally and not merely given or experienced (for long term anyway).
The current book of choice is “Happiness By Design” by Paul Doolan which enhances the idea that you have the ability to be happy for longer than you think.
Perhaps most significantly, it also analyses the impact that stress has on our lives. This is the number one issue when it comes my clients struggling with their plans.
Life does get in the way – it’s obvious.
We all have different stressors and stress thresholds. I like to think I’m laid back but I do get overwhelmed.
Things that stress me out most are when I don’t have an approach to tackling a list of problems, end up half doing things and then it takes longer.
As I’ve said before, “the thing is not the thing”, one issue is normally precipitated by other things. Sure, we have surface problems like weight gain, lack of fitness and so on but there are always underlying reasons why we feel the way we do….
“The theoretical model we developed posits that you can do one of two things to stay happy once you gain weight: the first is to expend energy in losing weight, and the second is to expend effort on playing down the importance of weight gain in your life. Our data analyses support the second explanation. As people put on weight, they shift the focus of their attention away from parts of their lives that are associated with weight, like health, toward aspects where their weight is less important, like work…”
It’s clear that as humans, we justify what we do based on emotions. Obviously we would prefer to avoid uncomfortable situations where we are made to feel insecure and shifting the focus helps this.
Exercise can be an escape for some but mainly it’s a method of changing their lives.
I have had clients come to me who have been unsure of what they want to achieve (that’s a lucky situation I know!). In that, they don’t really need to lose weight but want to see what they can achieve through resistance training. It can be difficult to train these people because they have no set end point as such.
Attention is a powerful aspect when it comes to goal setting! (I’ve just made a note to blog about why goal setting is not important, so expect that one soon). Whether it’s getting closer to the goal or seeing the progress itself, it requires attention.
Needless to say, the more attention that you give something, the higher the chance of getting a result will be:
“When you think about the impact of anything, good or bad, you are basically asking yourself how much it matters when you are paying attention to it, and do you think it matters a lot – and typically a lot more than it will actually matter when you experience it in your life, where your attention will flit around rather than remaining focused on it. This is the focusing effect in action. The fortune cookie maxim here is, “nothing is quite as important as you think it is while you’re thinking about it.””
Ultimately, the focus you give to your goal is the most important aspect. When marathon training, I had a tangible goal and more often then not, if I knew I needed to run, it happened without question.
It was a good feeling, knowing that I had inspiration to do it. Unlike currently, where it’s no big loss if I do or not, but thankfully my motivation levels are high.
This is where happiness comes in, we don’t expend our concentration in areas where we can have most success….
“The fundamental reason why most of us aren’t as happy as we could be is that we allocate attention in ways that are often at odds with experiencing as much pleasure and purpose as we could.”
The Pleasure:Purpose Principle, once again springs up. This really pins down why some things bring happiness and others don’t. We need to find the balance.
I’m sure you’ll agree that getting fitter has a purpose (normally with better relationships being the actual reason) and sometimes brings pleasure. Pleasure is one thing that means people quit on their goals.
It sounds so obvious! However, there are so many possibilities when it comes to fitness that you don’t need to do things you hate! That’s one of the fundamentals of RYPT.
Do what you love and love what you do. Whether it’s nutrition or exercises, small steps work wonders.
Changing what you eat is something that gives lots of purpose but very little pleasure…
Why not change your outlook into small steps over time? You’ll still get the same result but will enjoy it more.
Eating should be pleasurable and forcing yourself to eat things you hate will only ruin your attitude towards food.
So choose wisely: all in or small steps in?
It doesn’t need to be the way others do it.
Every day in January, RYPT will be out to help you on the Facebook page. At 11.00 EVERY day there will be a fitness tip of the day and at 21.00 there will be an RYPT vlog to help you too.
Don’t miss out, give RYPT a like to join in.
Ross
A picture of my run along Aberdeen beach yesterday! It looks warmer than it was, trust me.
