It’s a lifestyle not a challenge

by Jeremy Koerber, Fit to Hunt

Who doesn’t like a good New Year’s Challenge? A quick scroll through various social media platforms will have you SLAMMED with opportunities from a multitude of coaches, gyms, personal trainers, and fitness enthusiasts to make the next eight weeks the time that you take control of your life and change habits forever, but there is one teensy problem. Most challenges do not create a permanent lifestyle. Here are some thoughts that can help you CRUSH your next fitness challenge while working on building sustainable systems!

You can do anything for a month

One of the most dangerous things in terms of a challenge or taking steps to prepare for an event like a beach vacation or wedding is what happens after the event. For example, I trained a client to fit into a specific dress for her daughter’s wedding and in the last four weeks leading up to the big day, she was perfect. Her workouts were on fire and her nutrition was on point, but after the wedding she fell off hard. A big reason for this was the program she was following was not sustainable. If you are doing a challenge in the New Year understand it to be what it is, a challenge; not a lifestyle.

 

66% vs. 33%

I attended a fitness conference a few years ago and sat through a talk by Precision Nutrition where I learned a pretty startling statistic. Anything more than one lifestyle change at the beginning of a new program to improve health and fitness will likely result in failure. I cannot remember the exact percentage but it went something like this:

Implement one lifestyle change and you are 66% likely to make it stick

Add two lifestyle changes and your success rate plummets to a 33% success rate

This is why New Year’s Resolutions and challenges can lead you down the wrong path without the proper mindset or understanding of what to do when that challenge ends. It is also why we encourage outdoorsmen and women to begin preparing for their hunts in January and February for the following season. We want you to have as much time to layer small changes so whatever they are, exercise or nutrition, you can layer them appropriately and make them stick!

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic

It is also important to understand where your drive comes from. As the New Year hits, brace yourself for a plethora of weight loss challenges! There is nothing wrong with losing weight but if you participate in an overly aggressive challenge and are doing things that are not sustainable, who cares if you win the office pool? Especially if you regain those ten pounds you lost in four weeks plus a few more. Weight loss is an extrinsic or external reward.  You see the result in the mirror and on the scale and one would think that would motivate you long-term but that is a myth. The intrinsic or internal reward will get you out of bed and moving on a long-term basis. What does an internal reward look like? It could be:

• Stress relief that comes from crushing a great workout
• Performance in the field such as carrying out a heavy pack, hanging tree stands, or blowing through a duck marsh
• A flood of endorphins after a run or long ruck
• The feeling of accomplishing tasks that before seemed impossible

The list goes on and on but the key driver revolves around the feelings and rewards that come from within. Don’t get me wrong, I like looking good in a t-shirt but focus on performance first; not how good you look in your camo.

Remember, there is nothing wrong with participating in a fitness or weight loss challenge. They can be fun and the competition may help you stay with it but understand that once that challenge ends, you will need some different strategies to ensure the activities you did become a lifestyle. Do that and we promise you will get and stay #FitToHunt!

What more can we do for you? If you have a question please shoot a DM to us on the GoWild app (@fittohunt)  or email us at info@stayfittohunt.com

If you are sitting there today trying to figure out your next move, check out our menu of D.I.Y. programs at www.stayfittohunt.com. You can also use code: GoWild10 to get 10% off every program!