Are you getting fitter or fatter?

“Dad, we’re getting fitter not fatter”

That’s what my daughters are now saying during lockdown, our Sophie is 7, our Grace is 6. (Our Harry doesn’t care, he’s 1).

We’ve got the girls running round the field most mornings at 8am; 9am on a Sunday.

Some days they love it, some days they hate it and there’s tears about doing it but I’m proud of them to have picked up this new habit and become far more aware of effort and results.

It got me thinking about how much our kids imitate us.

They imitate our actions more than listen to the words we say.

Our words might actually be contradicted by our actions (do what I say not as I do).

Are we then demonstrating good habits and values?

With the business on lockdown and operating with a skeleton crew, I guess I needed something I had ultimate control over,

so I decided I’d get on a fitness mission.

I didn’t want to use lockdown as an excuse to become lazy or less concerned about my health.

Since the 23rd March, I’m up at 5am, training at 6 in the garden, on a Zoom group training thing, some days I hate it, others less so.

But regardless of how I feel before, I ALWAYS feel better AFTER.

And there’s the thing right there.

The one critical thing I’ve learned is….

Don’t follow your feelings or be managed by your mood.

If you do, you’ll likely make bad choices, do very little, take the easy road.

When you commit to doing something new, or changing anything, you said it in a pumped-up mood.

The key then is doing it regardless of how you feel.

Because you’ll likely be telling yourself you deserve or feel like… (insert your ‘thing’ here)

• A lie in
• A glass of wine
• A few beers
• Another takeaway
• A biscuit/cake/choccy bar
• A smoke
• Staying up too late watching TV or playing Xbox
• Staying in coz its wet outside
• Staying in coz we’re on lockdown and its too busy outside now

 

But we don’t rise to the level of our intentions; we fall to the level of our habits.

And our habits dictate our future.

So, are you getting fitter or fatter? Better or worse in your health, well-being, finances, relationships etc

Are you making progress or hiding behind excuses?

Yeah, it’s tough right now, but you’re in control of more than you think.

A sage quote I like: “One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things”.

So reach out and ask for help if you need it.

Having the courage to ask for help is a strength.

Stay safe and fit peeps

PS I wrote this ^^ as part of my weekly emails; it clearly triggered a few as I had some unsubscribes. I wonder if these people are getting fitter or fatter?