I am asked all the time, by strangers, friends, family, and new clients, how to reach a specific goal.

Every one has their own unique goals, but typically they involve getting “optimal abs,” “losing weight as fast a possible,” or transforming their body in some way.

I use to be the kind of trainer who would give you answers that were exactly what you wanted to hear, because I was too afraid to tell you the truth. However, I have become the type of trainer and Health Coach that is going to give it to you straight up. I am more concerned with helping your body heal, and helping you achieve results that last forever, than I am with setting you up for failure just to accommodate your short-term obsessions.

I am totally supportive and a big fan of having goals. However, I have just learned that when we are motivated by the wrong reasons, our motivation for doing things never lasts but more than a few months. Do you relate? You know it’s either been you, or someone you know, who eats really super healthy and hits the gym like a champ for about 3 months or so, and then poof. All those good habits disappear and you or they, begin to swing in the opposite direction for the rest of the year.

This happens for 3 reasons:

1) You are motivated by external results and reasons, and therefore you become bored and unfulfilled by your “Why” behind getting fit and making life changes.

2) You go way to extreme, looking for fast results, and therefore get burnt out and sick of starving.

3) You set yourself up for failure by creating a schedule and regimen that is not realistic to maintain on a daily basis as your new healthy “Lifestyle.”

Notice what I said in #3…LIFESTYLE.  Yes, this is because in order to transform your body, your mind, your spirit, and your life, it takes some time.

It takes commitment, and it takes passion, and it takes willingness to stay the course and do whatever it takes to unlearn old patterns and bad habits, and to replace them with habits and behaviors that serve optimal health and well-being in your life.

Afterall, when you have optimal health and well-being, you will naturally manifest the physical results of this inner state. You will naturally begin to just look healthy and fit all the time, due to the way you live your life.

Therefore, it takes a shift in your consciousness around exercise, and nutrition, if you want to achieve results that last a lifetime. I know for me, I had to get off that roller coaster of dieting, bingeing, exercising way too much, then not enough, feeling great, then feeling gross. It was exhausting!

You must come from a healthy mindset around food and exercise, in order to transform your body in a way the lasts forever.

Here are 3 tips for you to begin to create a healthy relationship to food and exercise, and therefore begin to manifest results that last forever:

1) Find your WHY behind getting fit. This must be for you. If you are motivated by something temporary, then when that outside motivation is gone, you are back to square one. Why do you want to get fit? Do you want to feel sexy from the inside out? Do you want to light up a room every time you walk into one because you feel so full of love, energy, and vitality inside? Do you want to be able to look the world in the eyes, and know that you are worthy of greatness, because you act lovingly toward yourself and live a life you are proud of? Find your WHY, and make sure you feel so much passion and are so connected to it, that it moves you into action. Trust, that when you live to accommodate your WHY, your hotness factor will naturally go up.

2) Choose thoughts, actions, foods, and relationships that support your WHY. Take an inventory of your life. Make sure you are surrounding yourself with people who only want the best for you, who support you and lift you up, rather than pull you down and suck your energy. Guard your thoughts like your life depends on it, because it does. Be aware of heavy, negative thoughts that make you feel bad and tired, that do not serve you, and when you notice them, shift immediately to thoughts that make you happy. Example, if you are worried about something, or someone upset you, begin to imagine yourself hanging out with your favorite person, or doing your most favorite thing in the world and feel that fun, the love, and the comfort you feel when you are around that person or doing that thing. Lastly, stay conscious of the foods you put into your mouth and the actions you take. Ask yourself before you eat or do them, “Does this serve my WHY?” It is up to you to decide what it is you want more than anything, and then align everything in your life, to help you get there.

3) Practice progress, NOT perfection. Be patient with your process. Let the pressure off yourself, and allow yourself the time and space you need to unlearn all the unhealthy ways in which you’ve been living your life. We all have to unlearn the ways in which we have been programmed. Take it one day at a time, and just do the best you can. As long as you stay committed to living a life with optimal health and well-being, the rest will unfold, as you transform one day at a time:)

If you have any questions for me, or would like to share your experiences, successes, or struggles with me, please comment right below this post!

Also, if you are interested in learning more about how I can help you as a Health Coach or Personal Trainer, just email me at [email protected].

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Namaste,

Erin