Exercise, diet and a million excuses

Guest Contributor: Noel Flynn from ABC GYM

It’s 2.25pm on Sunday and I am only sitting down to write tonight’s blog post that is due to go live this evening. I usually write these posts on a Friday morning, so why am I late?

This week I had a mental week. It was mental in a good way, as my gym is getting a lot busier, which means I have spent my time plotting ways to make upgrades to how we deliver our programmes, systems and nutrition advice. So even though it was mental, it is a great thing to be busy with.

The other reason I was so late with today’s post leads me into what I want to discuss in this post. Having a balance in one’s life. Let’s be honest I am as full of s#!t as the next person when it comes to being busy or claiming to be busy! There is 168 hours in a week and yet we all claim to be so so busy. People even claim to not have 3 hours a week to exercise. 3 hours a week if I have my maths correct is 1.78% of the hours in the week and if it took us up to 30 mins to get to the gym that would double the time spent to 6 hours which takes up a whole 3.57% of your week (man I hope I got my sums right). So even if you were outrageously busy for 96% of your week you still have time.

Now here is the thing.Who is reading this blog post? Are you the person who is too easy on yourself? The person where the excuse comes first and the action to exercise and eat a healthy diet comes a distant 2^nd.Or are you the person who exercises hard every day, who preps food every day, who gets anxious if you miss a training session, who feels guilty relaxing or indulging in dessert once or twice a week? It’s funny as there does not seem to be a middle ground,Balance seems to be something that is fundamentally lacking in people’s lives.

There is a saying that “there is only a few inches between a pat on the back and kick up the bum”. The sentiment behind it is that there is a fine line between success and failure. The saying is often used in sport when a team or an athlete wins! While sports people can accept the plaudits when things are going well they need to realise that complacency is just around the corner. If standards drops, if performances suffer, the same people who gave the praise will be the first to scrutinise you, so be prepared for the backlash.

But does the regular Joe think the same?

When you are consistent, you get results, you lose the weight, you burn the bodyfat, your clothes fit better, you feel better.As a result you are happier, more confident in yourself. As your happiness and confidence grows, people notice it, they give you compliments (that reminds me thank you to the lovely ladies for the nice comment on last week’s blog. It’s much appreciated) But what happens next? (wait there I got a message on my phone, oh there’s a facebook notification, sure I’ll have a look at snapchat while I am at it…..yep very busy You get distracted, you get complacent, you lower your effort, the old excuses start to kick in. The person who gave you the compliment will be saying ‘oh look she put the weight back on!’

And then there is the other extreme!

Maybe you are the person who is outrageously determined, who prioritises exercise and food over everything else but in fact you really have a poor relationship with exercise and nutrition? You crave exercise, you are always tired, always on the go but always looking in the mirror, punishing yourself. When you eat a SIN food (shame on those who label any food a Sin by the way, I think it is criminal) you feel you need to earn a penance so starve yourself or go for a walk, run, gym or whatever. Here is where I would love to say ‘get over yourself!’ but it is not as simple as that.

Maybe you have read some of these blog posts, got pumped up for a day or 2 or a week but then fell back into your existing thoughts and feelings.So what is the answer? What is the best diet? What is the best exercise?

If you have been following the blog series, you will know there is no one size fits all answer, you know I am not here to offer quick fixes or false hope. The best diet in the world is the one that YOU will follow! Just make sure it is one that encourages a healthy relationship with food. When you are choosing what to follow ask yourself, “Will I still happily follow this diet in 6 or 12 month’s time?”If the answer is NO, do not start it in the first place.

When it comes to exercise: The undoubted scientifically, most researched, most proven way to get in shape is resistance training or strength training along with some cardio or conditioning. BUT again anything you enjoy, that you have fun doing, that you see yourself still enjoying months or years down the road, is the thing to choose because anything is better than nothing!

What is usually the biggest obstacle to preventing you trying something new?

What is the biggest obstacle to sustaining the success you have had?

What is the biggest obstacle to being a happy, confident person?

In my opinion – it is you, yourself, your own thoughts, your fears and your emotions.

So I will finish with a quote I heard first on The Simpsons “What does not kill you, will only make you stronger!”

But remember are you:

1 – too easy on yourself and too quick to give and excuse or

2- too hard on yourself and never give yourself a break or

3 – are you the person who is saying to yourself I deserve a break when you have not earned it?

When it comes to diet, we have managed to secure a 10% discount for The Beautiful Truth readers with the Dublin Meat company. Both myself and Sinead have been eating from their Fit Food range and if time is an issue when it comes to diet, these are a god send. Just use the code ABCGYM at the check out. Oh and they delivery nationwide.!!