Life as we know it is such a simple yet complex thing. Our bodies are our vehicles that carry us through life. So many of us take for granted so much of what we have and who we are. We take our bodies, our health and our lives for granted often neglecting the very vehicle that we expect to run smoothly day in day out. More often than not, when something goes wrong with our ‘vehicle’ we want to blame someone or something rather than take responsibility for being the actual driver and causing the ‘car crash’…

In the past week I have had some interesting conversations with clients about the need for routine and consistency with exercise and healthy eating. One of the things I love about being a Personal Trainer is when someone recognises the value and importance of why we need to exercise and eat well by doing so and reaping the benefits. It is a really awesome break through for anyone to change his/her lifestyle to a more positive and healthy way and see and feel the difference. There is a certain Zen about it. By this I mean that when you are fit and healthy and consistent in your routine things seem to work better. Stress levels are not as high, your body functions more efficiently and life is less complicated because of this.

It seems ironic that something so simple and beneficial is so hard to achieve. Or is it? This one is a case of human behaviour and conditioning. I have said it many times before that we humans are creatures of habit – it just seems that we have a tendency to somehow be sucked into the bad habits even though we know they are detrimental to our lives and wellbeing. You have probably read before that it takes around 21 days to change a habit. I believe it depends what the actual habit and how ingrained it is however, there are certainly changes made within the 10 – 14 days for many particularly in relation to food and exercise habits. In order to change we must be prepared to get a tad uncomfortable to get to our new level of conditioning or to our Zen place.

So at the risk of sounding new age…..our Zen place in fitness is our ‘Zone’ or the place one feels when one is feeling switched on, fluid, fit, strong and healthy. Yes you have to work to get there and like anything in life we have to put in to get back and being fit strong and healthy is definitely no different. I also believe that too many people give up because they think it is all too hard. We must remember that everything in life is a work in progress and working on your fitness and health is a constant day in day out work in progress. Something else I remind many of my clients to do is to enjoy the journey of getting to a goal as this is the process of change and part of the journey to Zen and the art of exercise.