Why Fitness Is A Maze, Not A Track!

I have a little pet hate. 

No, not slimming clubs. 

(although yes, I do hate them, could you tell?!)

I'm talking about this mystical bloody TRACK people keep banging on about.  

What is this track??! What, you start a diet or fitness plan and you hop on some kind of imaginary choo choo train?? 

How many times have I heard... 

"I'm starting my new diet on Monday! I can't wait to get back on TRACK! But before I do I'm going to eat my bodyweight in chocolate this weekend!" 

And.... 

"Oh no, I skipped my Tuesday workout so now I'm off TRACK. I might as well do nothing for the rest of this week and get back on TRACK next week!"

Someone even posted to our fan page yesterday...

"I would love to do Rebel 2.0 but I've got 10 days in Orlando half way through which will have huge potential to derail me."

Derail you from what??

The imaginary choo choo fairy ride that dieters seem to spend their lives jumping on and off... and on and off... and while they're "on it" they're PERFECT... living on a strict diet of kale and fresh air... and while they're "off it" they're ramming down as much junk as they can... before they have to get back on board.

And herein lies the problem with "the track".

It creates... and perpetuates... the all or nothing... perfect or imperfect... starve or binge... ON IT or OFF IT... dichotomous dieter's mindset.

The same mindset that leads millions of young, healthy, fit teenagers on a journey to obesity when they make the fatal mistake of starting their first ever diet and taking their first ever step on "the track".

Yes, they're good and ON TRACK to start.

But at some point when life happens... which it does... they get DERAILED and they fall OFF TRACK... and they start hoovering up the biscuits... punishing themselves with food... avoiding all exercise... then waiting for life to be perfect again... before jumping back on the diet track.

Until... of course... they fall off it again.

The result is a nation of obese people... jumping from diet to diet... fitness plan to fitness plan... track to track... thinking that a few skipped workouts or a few bad meals is a reason to jump off the track and BINGE.

And not just binge...

Binge enough to regain any weight lost from any previous time spent on the track. So they jump onto the next diet track even fatter.

But stop for a second.

Have you ever considered...

THERE IS NO TRACK?

Have you ever thought that maybe "the track" is a fabrication, and a self-destructive way of thinking, created by the diet and slimming industry to ensure you binge and regain the weight when you're not on their diets? Making you mentally, physically and emotionally dependant on their diets, to keep you on this imaginary TRACK.

But here's the game changer, the mindset shifter.

What if we forgot about this self-destructive track. What if there's a better way, a smarter way, to think about fitness, nutrition and leanness?

What if fitness isn't a TRACK you are either ON and OFF...

What if it's a MAZE that you navigate?

A maze with unpredictable twists and turns... tunnels and dead ends... longer routes and short routes... all there for you to explore on your journey to a fitter, leaner body.

And what if you're always in the maze, because LIFE is the maze. So you're never on it or off it... in it or out of it... only exploring it and learning about it, and discovering the right route for you.

Which means you exist within the maze on holidays, on weekends, on Christmas day, on your birthday... in fact, every single day of the year. So there's no imaginary "OFF" period where suddenly calories don't count so you need to binge while you can.

Instead you perceive these events as twists and turns on your journey. Meaning you don't feel guilty for taking a few unexpected turns... those blowout meals or those skipped workouts... You embrace them as part of the process.

Running around, getting lost, finding a dead end, but relishing the challenge of finding a way round it. That's the joy of mazes and that's the joy of fitness!

When you re-wire your brain to think like this...

A 10 day trip to Orlando isn't a "DERAILMENT".

It's just another twist in the maze that you must go through to get where you want to be. Not a bad thing. Or a negative thing. Or a reason to stuff your face with waffles while you still can. Just a slightly longer, slightly more relaxed route to a leaner body.

The take home message...

Too many dieters spend their lives binging and slobbing whilst waiting for perfection. That perfect moment when life, work, holidays, kids, finances and friendships are all aligned, meaning they're ready to jump back on the perfect fairy track.

My advice?

You don't get fitter and leaner by procrastinating, sitting around waiting for an imaginary train on an imaginary track that you can only ride when life is perfect.

You get fitter by moving, exploring, taking twists and turns, embracing the imperfection and the challenge of finding your way.

Fitness isn't sitting by a train track.

Fitness is getting lost in a maze.

Liam

[If you'd like to learn more about how we can help, please feel free to email us for a non-judgemental conversation about your fitness and nutrition.]

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