How to Make Health and Fitness A Priority

This is one of those articles that can be great if you implement what you learn. If not, it'll just be another thing you read as you go about your day making no change to your life.

There's an intro for ya.

Last week, a friend emailed me and asked how I make health and fitness a priority in my life, and what they need to do to make it a priority for themselves.

But before I give you some advice, I'll say this:

There is no formula or step-by-step process in the entire universe that will force a change in your life. YOU have to want to make that change bad enough for yourself. If you do, you'll make it happen. If you don't, you won't. It's a simple as that. It's the brutal truth.

Be open and honest with yourself as you read this article and reflect.

#1: PLAN AHEAD

You can be on the greatest diet of all time and you can have the most effective workout program in the world, but it doesn't mean jack if you don't plan to make those things a consistent part of your life. You MUST plan ahead.

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." - Ben Franklin

I like to think I am a hard worker, but I know for a fact that if I didn't take time to plan things ahead of time, they would never happen. No matter how hard you work and how determined you are, the same rule applies to you. I'm not sure what you use to plan and schedule your daily and weekly life, but whatever it is, I'm sure it helps you a ton. If you use that method to plan your meetings, work days, babysitter, appointments, and all the other crazy things you have going on in your life, why wouldn't you do the same for your health and fitness?

Put your workouts in your calendar NOW. Seriously, stop what you're doing and schedule your workouts for this week as well as the upcoming week. Do your workouts take an hour? Yes? Ok, awesome. Find an hour in your calendar, create an event, and title it "Gym Time" or "My Time" or "GO LIFT HEAVY STUFF".

"I don't have an open hour in my calendar."

Yes, you do. You just didn't look hard enough to find it. Go back and try again.

Once you're done planning and scheduling your workouts, take a look at your nutrition and ask yourself the following questions:

• Where do I succeed in my nutrition, and what do I need to do to continue that success?

• Where do I struggle, and what do I need to do to make sure those struggles are non-existent this week?

Whatever that looks like, plan it out.

For most people, the main struggle is eating healthy on a consistent basis while balancing a busy schedule. It's too easy to go out and grab fast food if you don't have anything ready at home, so make sure that doesn't happen. Do some meal prepping, and make some snacks for you to eat this week and the next, NOW. Seriously, do it now.

Put some meat in the crockpot, make a massive pot of rice, and cook up some greens that are easy for you to take on the go. That takes wayyy less time than you might think. Putting meat in the crockpot takes a couple of seconds, and the crockpot does all the work while you prep other things. Rice takes 10-2o minutes. Greens, about the same. All you need to make easy meals for the entire week is 3o minutes to an hour at the most. You have that time. Sit down and put it in your calendar, NOW.

I'm telling you, planning out the next 7-14 days is going to bring you GREAT success. You just need to do it. So sit down, think about where it's hardest for you to succeed, and schedule a game plan to make sure falling short doesn't happen.

#2: CREATE BEHAVIOR-BASED GOALS

If you've been paying attention to my content for a while, you know that I constantly talk about how important it is to know your why. Your why is the reason you're doing this. Your why tells you the importance and significance of making a change in your life. It is absolutely essential.

But what comes after the why?

Action.

Here's the thing, though. Action means nothing if there's no consistency, and the best way to build consistency is to create habits. The best way to create habits is through behavior-based goals.

Why ---> Behavior ---> Habit ---> Consistency ---> Success

It's easy for all of us to think about the outcome-based goals we want. We want to lose 5% body fat. We want to drop 20lbs. Whatever it is, we all have some sort of outcome-based goal. That's good and well, but those outcomes come from consistency that begins with behavior change. Think for a quick second on what your outcome-based goal is. Now, take that goal and break it down. Ask yourself: "If I want to achieve _______ in ____ months, what do I need to do?" If you need to train properly and eat according to your goals, your new goal is to train five days per week and eat healthy 80% of the time each day. This is just an example. It will change depending on the goal you have and what you need to do to get there. So, figure out what the process looks like, and make the behaviors in your process your new goals that you aim to achieve each day.

I have been absolutely horrible about prioritizing my mobility. I want to reach a new squat PR and improve my form, so my goal is to spend 15 minutes doing ankle mobility 3x per week. That's an example of a behavior-based goal.

Not only will behavior-based goals build consistency, but they'll also keep the big goal from feeling like this daunting, difficult, and completely out-of-reach achievement. You'll slowly begin focusing on the present, what you can do THIS day, and before you know it, you'll be at your outcome-based goal.

#3: YOU GOTTA WANT IT

This one is straight forward. If you want health and fitness to be a priority in your life, you gotta want it. If you do, you'll prioritize it. If you don't, you won't.

I can already hear the excuses I've heard over and over replaying in my head...

"I don't have any time for that."

"You don't understand, you're not a parent."

"My job is too demanding. I have too much on my plate."

STOP.

Just, STOP.

STOP lying to yourself, and take responsibility. It's perfectly fine if you don't want health and fitness to be a priority. But, it is NOT ok to tell yourself it is a top priority when you're not treating it as such.

If your health and fitness really means that much to you, you'll make it happen. You'll move things around, you'll cancel stuff. You'll find a gym that has a daycare for your kids and you'll pay extra for it. You'll wake up early. You'll ask your spouse to help you make time. You'll get a home gym.

It is plain and simple, people. You'll make it happen if you want it to. You won't if you don't. That's the brutal truth.

So, sit down and think through this.

Ask yourself: "Is health and fitness really my top priority?" If it's not, and you don't need it to be, then be at peace with that. It is absolutely not fair for you to tell yourself that it is your top priority and then treat it differently. If it IS your top priority, then make changes accordingly to treat it as such.

Be objective. Be honest. Be truthful.

THE TAKEAWAY

Making health and fitness a top priority comes down to what you want. The BEST thing you can do for yourself after reading this article is to sit down and figure out if you really do want this for yourself. If you do, plan ahead, and plan to execute your behavior-based goals.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.

Self-Belief: How to Build it and Why It Matters

I've noticed that there are two things that often push people to take action. Those two things are motivation and self-belief.

I find both of them to be fascinating as individual concepts as well as a pair. They are two completely different things, but yet they can work together so well. We'll get into what I mean by that in today's article.

WHAT IS MOTIVATION?

According to some dictionary definitions, motivation comes from some sort of desire.

According to me, motivation is fluff. Motivation is the guy on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook talking about the low point in his life, and how he started with $15 in his bank account, and is now a self-made millionaire. And because he did all of this, YOU can do it too. Motivation is what we feel after we watch an awesome video on social media. It's what we feel after we listen to an awesome speech. It's what we feel when we're moved in a powerful way. Motivation is a fleeting desire to do something you may not normally do.

WHAT IS SELF-BELIEF?

Self-belief is a trust in one's own abilities. It's something that comes from experience and action. Self-belief is more permanent because it comes from the known, rather than the unknown. It comes from the tangible, rather than the abstract.

AND?

I know I know, you want me to get to my point. I am. I just wanted to make sure I went over motivation and self-belief briefly, that way we're all on the same page.

In fitness, we know that there are those that do and those that don't. Those that do, see results. They reach their goals and then some. They achieve great things. Those that don't, see no fruit because there was no labor. They don't reach their goals and they don't achieve anything. We've been led to believe that the doers are the ones that are motivated. They are seemingly in a constant state of motivation, always ready to attack anything in front of them with the most energy and enthusiasm.

In my years of coaching in the fitness industry, I've discovered that not to be the case. The doers aren't in a constant state of motivation and drive. They are everyday people just like you and me that have a bunch of other crap to do too. But that doesn't mean they were never motivated.

You see, motivation is a very useful tool when used properly. As I mentioned before, motivation is fleeting. It is temporary and never constant. However, motivation can be used while its at its peak in order to create action that turns into habit.

DOERS

The doers utilize this tactic all the time, and that's what makes them doers. When doers feel a sense of motivation, they take action over and over and over. Before they know it, that action has turned into a habit, and they no longer need motivation to keep them going. They are now relying on self-belief which is more permanent, because they know that can complete the task, simply because they've done it several times before.

Take working out for example. Training and pushing your body to uncomfortable limits is something that seems like it requires a ton of motivation all the time. But that's not the case. Sure, if you've never worked out before, you may need to motivate yourself with some incentive like a goal or desired result from your work. Once that motivation has set a fire within you, you are far more likely to go to the gym and train. Before you know it, you've trained multiple times per week for the last 3 months. Eventually, that motivation will leave. That's just the way it is. BUT, that doesn't mean that you stop working out. Why? Well, it's simple. You now have 3 months of self-belief in your tool-belt because you've gone to the gym and pushed yourself when you had that motivation. You know you're capable, and you know what's to come. So, you're better prepared, and you can go forth and attack what's in front of you.

When I started working out, I hated it. I didn't like the burn I felt while lifting weights. I didn't like breathing so heavily I thought I'd never catch my breath again. I couldn't stand it. But I had a goal that was motivating me. Years later, I go to the gym and push myself even when I don't have a goal. Why? I enjoy it. I enjoy pushing myself and seeing what my body is capable of doing. I enjoy that burn and that fatigue that I get. I also know that I'm fully capable of pushing myself hard knowing I'll end up on top. I believe in myself. I created a habit that needs no motivation for execution.

THE TAKEAWAY

Sometimes you need motivation. But if you rely on motivation to get you to do everything, you'll end up doing nothing. Find motivation, create a habit in action in order to build self-belief, and use that self-belief to continue moving forward.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.

Why Some Succeed and Others Don't

I remember when I first got into fitness and nutrition. I read articles out the wazoo and watched videos on YouTube like there was no tomorrow. Over time, I gained a lot of inspiration and I was ready to begin my fitness journey.

But there was one problem.

All of these videos I was watching were created by guys on drugs (nothing against steroids) who were jacked bodybuilders and nothing more.

Hear me out.

I don't mean to say that they are stupid, but they know their body, their biology, and what works from them. It would be difficult for them to relate to a 175-pound male who was just looking to improve his health and physique on a natural level. Not to mention the differences in lifestyle. I didn't want to each chicken and broccoli 7x/day nor did I want to spend three hours in the gym every day and completely cut out my social life.

My guess is you don't either. Don't you like pizza? Don't you like the occasional bowl of ice cream?

Duh. Of course you do. You're not weird. Don't you enjoy the ability to go out with friends and not feel like you have to be the odd ball out because you "can't" have a beer? What the heck is that? If you're not competing or reaching for an extremely challenging goal, there's no sense in taking it to the extreme and making your life miserable, am I right?

"Yes, you are right, Adam! But what are you getting at here?"

Well thank you for asking. Here's what I'm saying:

If fitness, you'll fail sometimes. But, you need to make sure you breed success from your failures. And it's a lot easier to believe you can succeed when you know that the other busy people in the world are crushing their goals, rather than idolizing and reaching for the results of some fitness model on instagram that lives a completely different life.

So, what I've decided to do is compile a list of items that successful clients of mine (and others) share in common. All these people do extremely well, and it's because they put in the work. But don't jump to conclusions here and assume they have all the time in the world. These people are mothers, fathers, business owners, employees with multiple jobs, volunteers, etc.

In fact, most of my clients that have a ton of success are all of those things (except being a mother and father, of course).

So the question is, how the heck do they do it?

I'm going to share the top FIVE things that have enabled my clients and other successful people to do well with an extremely busy and demanding life. These are not MY five reasons they're successful. These are the exact reason why THEY believe they do so well. These keys come straight from the sources.

A DRIVE TO IMPROVE THEMSELVES

Here's the thing. We get sick and tired of things. I know I do. I get sick and tired of commercials, and get sick and tired of "we" couples. I get sick and tired of my seemingly weak will power when it comes to binge-watching "The Office" on Netflix.

Well, not so much the last one.

What's interesting is that at some point, they got sick and tired of being sick and tired! They were sick and tired of countless hours on the treadmill, elliptical, spin bike, and stairmaster. They were sick and tired of turning cardio into some sort of mathematical equation in order to optimize fat loss.

Being truly sick and tired is one thing. We're all sick and tired of something on some level. It's finding the spark to make change that really matters. I have some good news and bad news for y'all on this one. The bad news: the spark that ignites the fire of intrinsic motivation can't be easily found. It's something that is different for all of us. We all think differently, and we're all moved on an emotional level in different ways. For some, it's knowing they'll be around to spoil their grandkids. For others, it's being able to spend hours tracking an animal in the middle of the woods. The good news: once you find that spark and the fire is lit, oh my gosh... the world better get the heck out of your way.

Once you reach a point of seriously being sick and tired of being sick and tired, find your spark and ignite a fire.

A PLAN TO FOLLOW

Shooting in the dark is dangerous, stupid, and pointless. Unless you're in a horror/thriller movie and it's your only option for survival. That's a bit different. Thankfully, you're in a real life scenario and shooting in the dark isn't your only option. You have the ability to look almost anywhere for a plan. And when I say anywhere, I mean the internet. Have you met the internet? It's nuts.

Fitness plans, coaches, trainers, nutritionists, workout videos, e-books, and more are available with one single internet search. If you're willing to find a plan to stick to, it's too easy to find any plan out of hundreds of thousands. Clients that opt for coaching realize that finding a custom-tailored plan with accountability was something that would get them to their goal and off their plateau.

I know what you're thinking. This is NOT a shameless plug for my coaching services. Their desire to seek a coach was theirs in the first place. I have never persuaded someone to work with me. That's a big no-no in my book. If I had to do that, it would be a pretty big red flag telling me that they might not do so well. All of the successful people I've worked with are people that understood they needed help and accountability, and they went out of their way to find it.

My most successful clients realized this, and sought out help. I've found that the most successful individuals are those that understand they can learn from anyone and everyone. They believe in themselves to do the work and understand that guidance and accountability will get them to a level they may not have been able to do on their own.

CLARITY

My only job is to impact people's lives through fitness. Because of this, it is an absolute necessity that I'm great at what I do. This means that I will always be looking, always seeking clarity. There are aspects of fitness and nutrition that I don't know about yet, and it will always be that way. Because of that, I'm constantly taking in information and constantly asking questions. For those who succeed in their fitness, it's the exact same.

Although my coaching is custom-tailored, there are still obstacles that come up for my clients.

Why?

Well, that's life. Sh*t happens.

My clients know that a lot of their success comes from the ability to reach out to me for clarity when needed. Not only do they understand that, but they utilize it tirelessly. The individuals that do well are the ones that reach out and say:

"____ happened, what do I do?"

"You said we're doing ____ this week. Why?".

It's simple. Those who do best are those who are most open to learn.

ABILITY TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS (AND SACRIFICES)

This ties in with the previous statement, but we need to shine some more light on it. Ladies and gents, we all need flexibility. Whether it comes to fitness, or finding a daycare for your kids that works with your schedule, your mental, physical, and emotional health are at their best when flexibility is an option.

Here's why:

It's pretty simple, really. Life doesn't give a crap about your schedule or whatever it is you want to do in the day. Things can change at the snap of a finger. Traffic can jam up in an instant. Your family member could run out of gas on the side of  the road. Crap will ALWAYS be thrown at you. One of the games of life is not controlling everything in order to have less crap thrown at you, it's how well you manage the crap that is thrown at you.

Thankfully, the plans that I give my clients allow them to assign their own workout days. If their schedule only allows training on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, then they move their workouts to those days on their profile. I also adjust their food intake accordingly. They have freedom to eat with flexibility which makes adherence easier.

They also make adjustments in different ways, too. You know, I shouldn't really use the word "adjustments" for this scenario. "Sacrifices" is a more appropriate word.

Sure, having the ability to reach goals with flexibility is a huge help. But what I've noticed is that when push comes to shove, those that succeed and achieve their goals are the ones that are willing to make sacrifices (adjustments) to get there.

If life throws them a busy week, they prep meals the Sunday before in order to combat it. If their kid runs into an emergency in the morning, they cut time out of their afternoon to get their workout it. If they feel coaching is a little out of their budget, they cut other areas of their spending down because they understand their health is most important.

It's simple. They make sacrifices.

Be willing to make sacrifices, or be prepared for life to run you over.

CELEBRATING VICTORIES

Along with K.I.S.S., we're all about celebrating victories at Poehlmann Fitness. It's not just me, though. My clients are all about celebrating victories, too.

It is far too easy to let the negatives of life weigh you down. This is one big differentiator between those that reach their goals and those that don't.

Those that reach their goals are those that solely focus on wins. Whether they're massive wins like setting a new squat record, or small wins like eating a serving of greens, successful individuals focus on wins.

Those that don't do well are the those that dwell on the negatives over and over, eventually convincing themselves that they're just not cut out to do well.

Focus on your wins, and build off them. Dwelling on failure is a waste of your time. Do yourself a favor and focus on your wins.

THE TAKEAWAY

The successes that we've discussed may not look the exact same for every individual, but the truth is that we can all benefit from the topics discussed in today's article. Great health and an amazing body is waiting for you, right in front of your face. All you need to do is be willing to reach out and grab it. The reach may not be easy, but it's always worth it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.