How do you cope with knowing fitness is forever?

How to Cope with Knowing Fitness is Endless

Came across an interesting question online:

“How do you cope with knowing fitness is a for life thing?”

Usually this thought pops up after someone has grooved a consistent workout routine… made nutritional changes… and is starting to get measurable results – whether that’s toned arms… pants fitting better… or the scale finally moving in their direction. But they start to see the journey as just “more of the same” and want to “be done”

Comedian Tom Segura realized this on his weight-loss journey:

 “There is no end number, and that’s what took me a long time to figure out. You don’t get to a number and go: ‘we’re done’ … it’s a constant thing. As cliched as it sounds, it literally is a lifestyle.”

And that’s both a blessing and a curse depending on how you look at it.

Some people will focus on the hours of sweating on the treadmill… pounding chicken salads… and having to skip out on pizza dinners. And that’s one way of doing it but it tends to be harder to stick to and it’s a limited paradigm of what it could be.

Recently there was a story of a couple who lost 80 pounds in two months for their Maui vacation. While getting “swimsuit ready” was the initial motivator, they didn’t stop there. They kept the chasing the adventure of expanding fitness. What started as an aesthetic goal for them has evolved into: pursuing doing a pull-up… running a marathon… competing in bodybuilding… building physical strength.

While driving through rural Iowa over Easter weekend, I heard the song 500,000 Acres by The Fray which had the following lyrics:

Follow me beyond the fences
And lose track of the days
And let your wild horses lead the way
When we finally reach the water
And walk that ocean floor
We'll find a pearl and head on back to shore

You're but half a million acres
Lying underneath the sun
So much left untouched by anyone
There's another million acres
Lying underneath your wing
Will I ever know you all the way?

Same goes with your fitness journey.

There are millions of acres to explore. It’s up to you where you take it and where your adventure takes you. You can’t imagine what you can do and what you can experience with greater levels of athleticism. It’s a constant discovery process that unfolds over time.

And more terrain opens up, the further you go.

So when you get caught in the trap of ‘focusing on the endless process’ and assuming it’s going to be like this f-o-r-e-v-e-r  - get associated to an ever-expanding vision of what fitness and greater athleticism could do for you.  

And trust that it could do that (and even more)

Kelan Ern

P.S. Something else that helps during the hard times is the ability to embrace all the plateaus… setbacks… and struggles on your journey and use them to move forward. This is not positive thinking but can create tremendous positive momentum.

The April 2024 Issue of Mind-Body Breakthroughs shows you powerful examples (from two legendary athletes) and mega-strategies on how to embrace this unstoppable, never-give-in mindset. Check it out while you still can.

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