January is the month where fitness dreams are born. As quickly as they are created, they can be lost. Most people write something vaguely hopeful about fitness on their New Year’s resolutions, like “lose weight,” “exercise more,” “get fit,” “go to the gym”. Such bland and undefined resolutions are not helpful. Setting and strategizing ways to achieve goals are a better way to approach fitness in the new year. Still, even with the greatest plan for fitness, goals can fall to the wayside when excuses get in the way.
“There’s always tomorrow” is the most grand ideology of illusion we are faced with as humans. We live in a world of later without realizing that later is never guaranteed. Excuses are our way of throwing down a bet on the roulette of life. When it comes to fitness, there’s a chance we’ll actually make it to the gym, the track, the pool, or whatever our aerobic playground, tomorrow. There’s an even greater chance we’ll just keep making excuses. What are these excuses we come up with so steadfastly? You’ve likely encountered some of them yourself.
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- You don’t have time
- You’re too tired
- You can’t afford a gym membership
- You don’t know where to start
- You don’t want to deal with all the people at the gym
- You don’t want to work out alone
- You don’t think you need to work out that much
- You’d rather sleep
- You’re not in the mood to work out
- You’re injured
- You’re not actually injured, but you’re really sore from working out already
- You can’t actually make it to the gym
- You’re depressed
- You’re anxious
- You’re in your head
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The list goes on and on.
Thankfully, as with all things in recovery, there are solutions available. Sticking to, maintaining, and achieving your fitness goals is a matter of motivation, discipline, and metrics. Simply trying to “get ripped” doesn’t give you a path to take. Set short term and long term goals to help keep you working out rather than trying to achieve one singular thing, like bigger biceps. Create metric points to work towards and then work past- like doing a Tough Mudder competition in 3 months, a workout ‘challenge’ like gearing up to 100 push ups a day, or a half marathon. Create small goals each week, like doing yoga three times, and each month, like being able to run a mile without stopping. Share your journey with others along the way. Try not to be one of those self-promoting fitness guys. Instead, do it the recovery way and ask for accountability and support as you go. Take fitness selfies, post your improvements, write about your setbacks, and be transparent about your journey. The vulnerability will go a long way in inspiring you to keep going.
Living life sober is a challenge you can accomplish every day with the right treatment program. Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. Learning to sustain recovery requires sustainable change. At Tree House Recovery, men are getting the treatment they need for restoring mind, body, and spirit to find freedom from recovery. Call us today for information: (855) 202-2138