LOOKOUT!!!! CRABGRASS CAN KILL YOU!!!! Ok, before you think that I’ve lost my mind, let me explain. Earlier this spring, I had to give my back lawn a serious overhaul. Basically what happened is I let the crabgrass get way out of control. Instead of taking care of the problem when signs first began to show, I let it take root and overtake my yard.

What in the world does this have to do with health and fitness? Well, it occured to me that my yard could be a metaphor for how we take care of our physical well-being. You see, my yard represented health, and the crabgrass represented the result of bad habits and practices (especially negligence). Are you starting to see it yet? Let me explain a little further.

The results of poor health habits will be small at first. Just like crabgrass, it starts as a small issue. Maybe, you start getting winded when you walk up the stairs, or maybe you start having low back problems. Perhaps, you notice some extra fat that has snuck it’s way like a ninja into your waistline. Whatever it is, you have two choices: ignore it or address it. If you choose to keep ignoring it, the result will be the same as what happened to my backyard. Over time that small issue will spread all over the place and it will take a whole lot of work to get it fixed.

Now I would be doing you an injustice if I just mentioned the bad habits but didn’t mention where the bad habits are born. Bad habits are born out of bad mindsets. The following mindsets are the ones that I see destroy people’s health every single day.

LAZINESS - I define laziness as choosing what feels good over what creates good. In other words, the thing that is going to improve you doesn’t usually feel good in the beginning. For example, when a client first starts training with me, they don’t enjoy their workouts. Why? Because they hurt! What keeps them going is the vision they have in their mind of what they want to be. Of course, as they develop and get stronger and fitter, they learn to love and embrace the challenge of every training session. Remember, sitting around with your feet up eating comfort food and drinking sugary beverages may feel good. But is certainly isn’t creating good.

HOLDING YOURSELF IN LOW REGARD – I believe in God and I love this saying: “GOD DON’T MAKE JUNK!” If you don’t think much of yourself, you won’t take very good care of yourself. I’m not saying you should be arrogant and conceited. What I am saying is you are valuable. You have worth and something to contribute. The sooner you become fully aware of that, the sooner you will become fully aware of how you are treating your body. Remember, we only take care of the things we value. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you cleaned and polished your trash?   

WRONG FOCUS - Let’s say you’re driving your car and in order to get to your desired destination, you need to take a right turn onto Smith street. But instead of focusing on the turn, you won’t take your eyes off of your radio. How successful are you going to be at making that turn? What I’m saying is, the only thing you should be focused on are the things that are going to get you where you want to be. So keep your eyes on the prize.  

If you have any of these mindsets, you have to kill it or it will kill you (slowly over time). Check out the next blog post where I talk about the solution.