Your Comfort Zone Could Kill You

It's been a while since I've had a chance to share with you some Tips, Tricks, and Info to keep you on Track and making progress. I had quite a few major changes going on on this end over the past couple of months, that literally demanded my attention.

But that aside, let's get to it shall we.  

This past week it has become painfully apparent to me that your Comfort Zone Can Kill You.  I know, you think I'm probably overstating the problem for shock effect, right?   

Wrong!

I presently have a client, a former triathlon competitor, that originally came to me with concerns about his increasing cholesterol, as well as nagging hip and knee pain. As you would expect it was the usual suspects, tight quads and hip flexors, rounded shoulders from way too many hours in front of the computer, weak glutes from little to no activity since he stopped competing, and of course a weak core.  He regularly attended sessions twice per week.  In addition to those sessions, he was given homework to do so that we could rid him of pain as quickly as possible.  

Then life happened.  His job began to require him to travel 2 weeks out of the month and POW, the progress we had made slipped backwards. 

As you might have guessed, the homework he had been doing went out the window, the amount of sitting he was doing had almost doubled, thanks to plane travel, and on top of it all he was not able to keep his regular sessions.  So in essence he had gone back to the comfort zone that had originally created the pain and increasing cholesterol. 

After reviewing what had transpired we agreed that taking care of himself couldn't be something he would find time for, taking care of himself would something he would have to make time for.

You see we all have crazy busy schedules.  I completely respect that.  But what I also know without a doubt, is that if you don't make time for wellness, you will be forced to make time for illness.  Whether it's in the form of physical pain and discomfort or other more serious issues of health.

 Our plan was simple.  I created a program for him that would take no longer than 15-30 minutes to complete.  We agreed that while it was important to make his scheduled appointments, equally important was that he follow through on his homework each and every day.  That he make time to take care of himself -- whether he was traveling or not.

And honestly, I believe that is the difference between getting to your goal or just taking 3 steps forward and 2 steps back.  You've got to make time each and every day to do something for your health. Because just keeping with your same old comfortable routine, could kill you. 

Need a quick and easy stretch program to make sure you keep on track?

Try this one on for size. (Stretches to Keep You Out Of Pain).

 7 Most Important Stretches if You Spend Your Day at a Desk

No more reasons, only results!

Pareto's Law and Your C-Zone

I already had a post for you today, seriously packed with info on the 5 absolute things you need to do to seriously transform your body.  Believe me when I tell you, you will want to check back next Monday with me for that one.

But then life happened. 

I sat and spoke at length with a former client, and 2 points kept coming up.  And then I began to wonder how many of you are struggling with these 2 issues.

1.) "Pareto's Law" or the 80/20 rule, and

2.) Getting out of your comfort zone

First things first.  Are you familiar with the 80/20 rule?  It's a mathematical equation that basically predicts that typically 80% of output is a result of 20% of input (simply stated-- 20% of your habits create 80% of your results).  And it applies to virtually anything.  Now in my opinion that's one heck of a rule of thumb to learn from and live by.

So let's put this in real world form. 

• Stats say that 20% of the population generate 80% of the wealth

• 80% of company profits come from 20% of the products and customers

That means that 20% of your meal choices are creating 80% of your results, and that means when you skip meals too!  If you miss meals, you will nibble during the evening hours before you go to bed.  I hear it all the time. 

Remember this, you can gain weight 2 ways:
1.) under eat and your body will store calories fearing starvation, or
2.) over eat and you have a surplus of calories your body doesn't know what to do with -- so it stores those calories as fat.

So that means, you need to ask yourself what 20% of your habits (in your nutrition and in life) are creating 80% of your problems or frustrations.  Take the time to do this, I promise it will do wonders for your productivity, success, and overall happiness.

The secret is to find what your "range" of calories is that works for you, and stay in it. 

Now onto the second rule that is worth its weight in gold.  Getting out of your comfort zone. 

Did I miss something over the past 24hrs or did success and accomplishment change?  It still requires work, right?  It doesn't grow on trees, nor can you buy them at a discount on a daily deal site.

I mean really now, if making changes and getting results was simple and comfortable, don't you think everyone would be driving around in sports cars, playing with their smart phones on the patio of their beach front houses, and never gaining an ounce of fat while eating anything they wanted?

Obviously it's not that simple.  In fact you might actually have to be a bit uncomfortable in the process of achieving your said goal(s) --  No matter what it is!

Notice I said uncomfortable, NOT miserable.  Truth be told, I can't think of any client I've had over the past 18 years that told me they were hungry anytime during the day when they followed my nutrition program.

Equally, I cannot think of a client who didn't get serious relief from pain, when they followed my prescription for rolling (self-massage) and stretching. 

The reality is, change is difficult, it's inconvenient at times, and let's be honest, it's really not all that comfortable.  However, if you want something better than what you have right now, you will have to do something different.  BUT, you can get the results you want if you're willing to change your habits a bit -- and get out of your comfort zone.

Or, you could keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.  We all know what that's called, right?

Be sure to check back next Monday when I share with you the 5 Absolute things you need to do to change your body quickly.

Until then --