Mental Fitness
By Ann Gruber, Triune's Personal Trainer & Nutritional Consultant

Flipping through this month’s issue of Oxygen or Muscle & Fitness, women and men with perfectly sculpted arms and rippling abs adorn the pages, advertising this month’s latest scientific phenomenon that will magically transform us into a body of steel. I have a love/hate relationship with these men and women. I love them because they inspire me. I hate them because they deflate me. The ads fail to detail the hours of hard work they have spent in the gym, the number of ice cream cones they have painfully bypassed, the high-calorie dinners out they have turned down and, not to mention, the mental commitments they have made to get the body they can proudly flaunt in the magazines. Most of us have the desire to get that 6-pack, but become easily overwhelmed when faced with the challenges that come along with it, which inevitably derail us from our goals.

What if we made the commitment to hit the gym and eat healthy just for one day? That feeling of accomplishment and good health upon going to bed at night might be enough to motivate us to get up and do it all over again the next day. Just as in any major goal we set, the result does not happen overnight, yet small accomplishments can happen daily. If your goal is to have a 6-pack that will make everyone in the gym do a double take, it will best be achieved by breaking it down into small, manageable steps. Here are some tips on small goals you can set on a daily basis to help motivate you in the gym and outside of the gym.

1. Just for today….you can do anything just for one day. When that alarm clock goes off in the morning, tell yourself “Just for today, I will stick to my diet and hit the gym. Ice cream and the couch will still be there tomorrow.”

2. One rep at a time….in the middle of a set, when that burn is setting in and your mind starts to give you a million reasons why you should quit, just focus on one rep at a time – each rep counts and each rep is bringing you one step closer to your goal.

3. Hold the fat….waiting in line at Starbucks, you can practically taste that cheese pastry in your mouth, but are all those calories worth the 3, maybe 4, minutes of enjoyment that it will take you to down that fat trap? Instead, play out the tape and recall how you will feel after eating that pastry – is the guilt worth it? Just think how great you will feel bypassing the pastry and sticking with your coffee or nonfat latte.

4. Small pleasures….it’s important to have rewards sprinkled throughout your day – things that you enjoy and can look forward to that will replace the cookie or happy hour. My favorite reward is coffee, but yours may be a small piece of dark chocolate, a new magazine or a hot bath.

5. Attitude is everything….maintaining a positive attitude and a healthy thought process throughout the day will prevent the self-defeatist in you from sabotaging your efforts. It is easy for us to tell ourselves that we are not strong enough or do not have the willpower that it takes to reach that level of fitness we so desire. This is a lie that we tell ourselves so that we can throw in the towel. A positive mental attitude is 80% of the battle in reaching your fitness goals. Positive thoughts provide positive results.

Ann Gruber is an NASM-Certified Personal Trainer and nutrition consultant at Triune.
Call Triune today at 215.627.6279 to schedule a free training session with Ann.