Real Life Real faith Journey to Wellness January Issue | Page 11

Just Get Started
“Just get started!” These three words carry tremendous
significance, especially when applied to starting an exercise
program and healthy dietary lifestyle. This simple act of
“starting” something will give us the energy to keep going.
Begin your exercise session and you’ll get the energy to keep
going. Likewise in the dietary arena; get started with healthier
food choices and you’ll continue to desire more healthy foods.
It’s a new year and so many are excited about their new health
and fitness goals. If that’s the case, why is it that nearly 50%
will give them up within six weeks or less? A recent study finds
42 percent say it's too difficult to follow a diet or workout
regimen. 38 percent say it's too hard to get back on track once
they fall off and 36 percent say it's hard to find time.

While I used to think it was pure
laziness that kept people from
exercising (which is a common
reason), I’ve come to realize that
there can be much more to it
than laziness alone.

Whether someone has set goals or not and gotten started or not,
there’s an interesting contradiction I see occurring every day.
People know that exercise is good for them and express their
desire to get healthier and be fit, but continue to avoid exercise.
In fact, another recent CDC study shows that only 1 in 5 (21%)
adults meet the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines and less than
3 in 10 high school students get at least 60 minutes of physical
activity every day.

Giving up on an exercise program (or never getting started)
often times goes much deeper than the very common excuses of
not having time, not having energy, and not wanting to get
sweaty. Sadly for some, a deep feeling of hopelessness
prevents them from doing anything. This often includes those
who’ve been inactive for years or even decades. Some feel that
they’re so overweight or out of shape, there’s no hope of
achieving a healthy body weight, body composition, or
reasonable level of fitness.

The questions is, if people know that regular exercise will yield
a positive result and express a desire to be healthier, why do
they continually chose NOT to exercise?
As a personal trainer, I’ve heard so many of the reasons
(excuses) hundreds of times

Others feel it’s necessary to join a gym in order to start
exercising. Gyms can be very intimidating places and this alone
will prevent many from getting started. These people are
unaware of the fact that joining a gym is completely
unnecessary.