What I Am Great At

I’m not a car person. Let’s be real. I’m not the type of guy who likes to work on cars or talk about cars. There are a lot of things I am not, in fact.

But I know what I am great at.

I am a fitness and nutrition person. I’m really great at helping people figure out realistic fitness goals and set achievable, actionable plans and then work towards that plan and actually make them happen.

I am not trying to brag at all, it is just something I am good at, and more importantly, it is something that I am incredibly passionate about helping people with because maintaining your fitness is one of the best ways to stay healthy and be able to enjoy and experience life for a long, long time.

And that is what life is about right? Focusing on your strengths. Working in the areas where you excel, the things that you are truly passionate about.

That is what brings us as humans joy and fulfillment.

Recently I had the opportunity to work with Ed who, after decades of neglecting his health and working in a relatively sedentary professional position, found himself entering retirement with Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Not a great place to be, and Ed had a lot to live for and look forward to. Ed’s doctor had him on a whole host of medications, and recommended that he lose weight and adopt an exercise regimen to help him get his health back on track.

The Individual Fitness team and I worked with Ed to develop a workout plan just for him, to help him achieve his goals and that was appropriate and doable for him at his age and fitness level. After working with us for 6 months, Ed’s blood sugar improved so much his doctor took him off related meds and his triglycerides were down to almost normal. He lost more than 15 pounds. His A1-C dropped from over 8 to 5.8. His cholesterol fell from 220 to 180 and his triglycerides from 390 to 190. In short, the results were absolutely fantastic.

Read more about Ed and some of the other people we have had the privilege to help.

Better health and quality of life is something that you can’t put a price tag on. THIS is why I do what I do.

Since this is my area of expertise, I have a couple of tips for you to help you choose a fitness and health plan that is right for you.

• Don’t choose a one-size fits all fitness or nutrition plan. It is setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Wasted time, and wasted money. What you need is something that is geared towards you as an individual, to help you meet your individual goals for where you are in life, physically and mentally. The real damage to one-size fits all fitness is that it discourages people. It makes them feel like a failure if they don’t see results, and like they can’t lose weight or get back to a more active, healthy lifestyle. 
• Fad diets don’t work. Yes, they may work in the meantime. But it is really hard to experience long-term success with temporary, extreme diets that cause you to give up entire food groups or cut calories drastically. A solid nutrition plan built for you is a better, safer, healthier way to reach your goals.
• We all begin at the same place—the beginning. When you first get started or think about getting started with a new fitness plan it can be tempting to look around and compare yourself to everyone else. You might think, “Wow, everyone is in such great shape. I am going to look silly trying to lift these weights, I am in such bad shape, I can never expect to get to the level of everyone else.” NOT TRUE. We all started at the same place. We all felt the same. Starting something is hard. Sticking with it is even harder. But we have to just keep going, keep trying, and don’t allow ourselves to compare ourselves to others. Be proud of yourself for starting!

I hope that these tips help you make some good decisions around pursuing a health and fitness plan. And I hope that you will consider coming into Individual Fitness and allowing us to do what we love to do—help individuals achieve their health and fitness goals. 

Come by and tell me what is one thing that you aren’t good at, and one area that you are great at.