Every day I encounter people who’d love to get leaner and fitter. But, when it boils down, it’s just plain too hard.

Want to be fitter, leaner and healthier but it's just too hard? Read this... Share on X

It’s hard to make healthy food choices when everyone else is eating the foods we crave.

It’s hard to exercise when we don’t feel like it.

It’s hard to get out of the habit of snacking on crappy foods at certain times.

It’s hard to find the time and/or motivation to exercise when we’re busy or stressed.

And so many more things about it are just so bloody hard. Which, of course, sucks.

So you start thinking, maybe it’ll be easier if I do it later when I’m more motivated/less busy/happier/after some event is over/etc.

Cos really, it should be easier, right? At this moment it’s such a struggle and that’s just making life horrible, so why bother?

Okay.

Yep, it's hard. But is it really THAT hard, in the scheme of things?

Yep, it’s hard. But is it really THAT hard, in the scheme of things?

Let’s take a step back here and get the bigger picture…

In the scheme of things is this really that hard?

Is it as hard as NOT being able to exercise and eat well?

Is it really harder than having your body in a condition where it would be physically impossible for you to do any kind of exercise?

There are plenty of people like that in the world. There might even come a day when you are one of them. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about today not being that day?

On the eating side, is making healthy eating choices really harder than being in a situation where you have no access to lovely fresh vegetables, fruits and proteins?

The majority of people in the world are actually in that situation – yet you have access to fresh food in such abundance you can turn it down in favour of processed food because it’s more of a party in your mouth. Who’s really got it hard?

No matter how unfit or weak you are or how much fat you have on your body, if you have four functioning limbs I can promise you there are plenty of people out in the world who would swap bodies with you – in a heartbeat.

If that could happen, what sort of care do you think they would take of that body? And why?

What if you lived in some remote barren place where you could only get processed foods packed with preservatives. How much do you think you’d love to experience the myriad flavours of delicious nutrient-packed vegetables, fruits, fish still fresh from the sea, etc?

If reading this is making you feel guilty. Shake that off right now. That’s just another way of taking the easy option and it won’t help you or anyone else.

Just get real about the situation you’re in here.

I was asked in an interview recently to define what abundance meant to me. The question took me by surprise, but I’ve thought a lot since about the answer that came out of my mouth:

Abundance is about appreciation. If you don’t appreciate the abundance you already have, how can you ever feel you have abundance?

If you want to get fitter stronger and leaner it is quite within your resources to do that. What’s more (so long as you do it in a healthy way) I can promise you it’ll be worth it.

Yes it takes effort and, yeah, in some ways it is hard, but in the scheme of things, when you look at what a lot of people have to deal with – maybe compared to challenges you’ve dealt with yourself in your own life – it’s not that hard.

And, you know, living with excess fat and/or poor fitness levels is hard too.

Which is harder, eating well & exercising or living with the results of not doing that? Share on X

Take it from me, waking up every morning and spending all day, every day living in a fit healthy body that you’re proud of definitely feels amazing.

So stop over-complicating it. Stop awfulising it. Turn your focus to how awesome it is that you’re in a position to be doing something that is making you feel amazing.

This is the key to enjoying the journey. And enjoying the journey is the key to getting to where you want to be.

Next time you’re about to launch into a moan about how hard it is to eat well and exercise regularly, please, just take a second to ask yourself, is it really that hard? Really?

 

 

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