Barriers to healthy living: Going from thinking about changing our lives to actually doing it

October 26, 10:17 AMDenver Jobs ExaminerAndrew Hudson

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Motivation is sometimes the hardest part of getting fit.
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Before I began my personal journey to health, I’d never worked out regularly. I’d never played team sports in high school or understood the type of discipline necessary for keeping in shape. As a result, I faced many of the common obstacles that so many of us face in terms of moving from thinking about losing weight and becoming more physically active to actually motivating myself and taking the action associated with living a healthy lifestyle.

Many folks take sporadic steps; binge dieting, joining a gym, or even getting a book or workout video. While these actions are taken with the best of intentions, we also know that it is so easy to fall back into our same old harmful and unhealthy routines; and soon, books and DVDs are gathering dust on the shelf, that new treadmill is being used as a coat rack or we’re stuck in a lengthy contract with a gym we rarely use. Our nutritional bad habits reappear and the 10 pounds we lost are soon back.

So how do you make fitness and nutrition a true part of your everyday life? How do you motivate yourself to commit 30 minutes of daily physical activity and make it so that it is not a struggle but a normal part of our daily routine?

Recently, I asked my trainer, Brian Barkley of Functional Conditioning, about the common obstacles and barriers individuals face in taking those first steps in moving to health and fitness.

Q: Brian, I know that my biggest challenge in becoming fit was simply overcoming my lack of motivation. I thought a lot about it, I bought books and magazine subscriptions, I started to consider what I needed to do, but I simply didn’t DO anything about it! Is this common behavior?

BB: Actually, yes. There are many barriers to fitness. Much of it has to do with the incredible amount of misinformation and unrealistic expectations we get fed about fitness and living a healthy lifestyle. We are bombarded on a daily basis about the latest and greatest diets, energy drinks, fat-loss pills, exercise equipment and get-thin-quick strategies. We are constantly told how ‘easy’ it is to get fit, lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.

I regularly see clients who join a gym but don’t know how to use the machines or inadvertently misuse them and end up with achy muscles for a week and never go back. They read an article from a fitness magazine, follow the recommended exercise routine for a week don’t see any results and give up. I can’t tell you how many of my clients bought the latest Abs machine after watching a TV infomercial, used it once and put in the garage. These behaviors are all done with the best of intentions, but they rarely work.

Q: Isn’t part of it also that we fall into bad habits? Part of my excuse mechanism was my busy lifestyle. I simply didn’t have time to get healthy! In fact, it was a weak attempt to justify my bad eating habits and my refusal to do anything physical.

BB: Exactly! Everyone knows about the health benefits of a good diet and regular physical activity, and everyone can do something starting right now to improve their health. But we use a variety of excuses to justify and rationalize our unhealthy behavior and to convince ourselves why exercise and nutrition are not convenient. Now saying that, we also have to realize that these coping and excuse mechanisms have been developed over many years and overcoming bad habits we’ve had for a long time and suddenly replacing them with new, healthy routines is not an easy thing for anybody. But there are specific and easy-to-cope strategies that can fit everyone’s lifestyles to develop perseverance and remain motivated and dedicated to a new routine. Like any change, this type of transformation requires assistance, coaching and someone who can monitor and help design a regular fitness and nutrition routine that fits your lifestyle and helps you meet your own personal goals.

Q: In addition to a manageable exercise routine, you also gave me nutritional goals that were easy to integrate into my lifestyle. For example you made me start a food diary to help me keep track of what I was eating which kept me on my plan. Another strategy I’d never done before was to start eating a healthy breakfast and as a result I didn’t have the urges and cravings to binge at the snack food machine at 10:00 a.m. every morning. I quit drinking soda pop and replaced it with bottled water when I got thirsty. I quit my fast food habit and replaced it with healthier and more reasonable portions of food. For someone who was just starting out, how important are practical and easy-to-achieve goals that keep them motivated?

BB: Like I said earlier, we are constantly bombarded with marketing messages that tell us it is easy to lose weight and easy to be fit with minimal commitment or dedication. That’s just not true. It’s critical for folks just starting out to be realistic. At the end of the day, for the vast majority of people, a healthy lifestyle comes down to two things: a commitment to regular exercise and regular good nutritional habits (eating right). It’s the “regular” part that can be most daunting.

Backing up that commitment up with a daily routine that requires motivation and perseverance is the most difficult thing for anyone just starting out. So, starting out, have small goals helps to keep you motivated. These goals are easily achievable and it feels great to hold yourself accountable every day. Better yet, as you start your journey you start to see results and your goals become bigger. Your cravings for unhealthy food start to disappear and you gain additional energy throughout the day. One of the things I also see with my clients is that they really develop overall, a much more positive outlook on everything.

Next week….starting a beginning weight training and aerobic program.

About Brian Barkley
Brian Barkley is recognized as one of the top experts in the health and fitness industry who knows the difference between quackery and what really works. Brian holds a degree in Applied Science (AAS), Sports and Fitness Technologies and is a certified Health and Fitness Instructor with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He has been featured in Esquire Magazine, The Rocky Mountain News, The Denver Post and Colorado Parent Magazine. He and his clients' successes have been featured on CBS national news, KUSA channel 9News, KCNC News4, as well as other television stations nationwide.

Are you looking for a trainer to help create your own personal plan to health and fitness? Whether you are just starting out or if you or looking for a new trainer, Brian Barkley and his trainers at Functional Conditioning can help. Go to www.functionalconditioning.com or call 303-467-7954 for more information. Mention Andrew Hudson's Jobs List and get a special introductory discount.