Health and fitness can be a scary topic for anyone. No matter where you are on your health and fitness journey you will be required to go where you are uncomfortable, on purpose, for a pay off that you may not even immediately see! This is the cost of improving your quality of life. Purposely stressing the body to prove its capabilities; embracing the changes that, in the long run, are good for you. Geesh, that sounds way too intense.

For this reason I find our health culture more likely to market the magical tricks and quick fixes; avoiding the lesson that learning to thrive in those uncomfortable spaces will, in the long run, leave you feeling more energized, refreshed, and capable of coping with your daily challenges. Time has proven this to me, and so I have acquired a list of healthy habit creating pointers to help make those uncomfortable spaces easier to thrive through. It is important to keep change as simple as it can be. That being said I will start with one small step, giving you a direction to take until I can share more with you next week.

Start small

Slowly build up your courage. Going too big too fast decreases your chance at success. It is much harder to continually feel that you have to start over, than to accept and maintain small gains, building courageous confidence along the way. Look at your lifestyle and identify your needs. Answer these questions: How much time/energy/money do I have for this need right now? What are my obstacles that I can control? What resources do I have handy? Where and who do I have for support? Use these questions to determine how much change you can realistically cope with each week.

For example, I would like to be a great and flexible yogi by the end of this year. Starting from scratch, I could go broke, be injured, and burn myself out trying to master all the moves on top of my current lifestyle. For right now I have my early mornings free, and an experienced friend that has given me simple poses to do each morning before my day takes off. I might not be bending like Bikram any time soon, but each day I am noticing small differences that remind me why my ultimate goal is important to me. It is a start. Most importantly, no matter how big my goal, I give myself credit the small start I make every day. Through this I will build up enough courage to take on more.

I challenge you all to think big enough this week to give up your excuses. Let yourself be confident in one small step instead of not starting at all. Allow yourself to become unstuck from all or nothing thinking. I hope that you all learn something about yourself and your health habits that will start you on a greater journey.

Eat a piece of fruit with your current breakfast, instead of feeling guilty about your daily bacon intake. Have a glass of water before every meal, instead of trying to squeeze in the 4 litres milk jug of water you always forget somewhere anyway. Go for a walk around the block after supper, counting each one of those steps toward that marathon you want to run someday. Tune in next week, ready with your new found courage, to take on more healthy habit forming pointers.

Health and fitness enthusiasm is contagious around Lynda. Obtaining her degree in Kinesiology from UBC in 2008 was her first step toward making her passion her career! After extensive experience in personal training and coaching, five years of varsity ice hockey, and competing in bodybuilding figure she decided to challenge herself with the business side of health and fitness; local business Target Fitness. To contact Lynda with questions or feedback please email targetfitness@hotmail.com.

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