Maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle should be logical. It's anything but, especially in light of holiday temptations, says fitness trainer and owner of Vancouver's Studeo 55, Nathan Mellalieu.
"It's 100 per cent emotional," he said. Mellalieu tells clients that achieving an active lifestyle and nutritious diet is simple, it's just not always easy.
"All the clients I'm working with, the only way for them to get on track or stay on track is to ensure there is some kind of emotional relevance as to why they're working out [and] why they're eating better," he said.
We don't lose our figures, add pounds and allow our muscles to soften and waistlines expand because it makes sense.
"Logically, nobody gets out of shape. Meaning, we all know we should be working out more often, we all know we shouldn't be indulging over the holidays. It's not a matter of logic-those logical things don't match up in the heat of the moment."
Mellalieu gives the example of a woman who drinks socially and smokes occasionally. When that woman becomes pregnant, her lifestyle habits change immediately and she foregoes alcohol, nicotine and drugs for the health of herself and her child.
"In an instant, she quits," said Mellalieu, asking, "Why is that? It's because there's an emotional relevance."
As the holiday season of feasting, merrymaking and reveling continues through a month of parties, Hanukkah, Christmas and on to New Year's Eve, Mellalieu gently chastises anyone who has set a health goal despite knowing they're not going to follow through in a meaningful way.
Vancouverites who make themselves promises of a lifestyle change come Jan. 1, 2012 need to check their motivation, their emotional connection to the outcome and, finally, their strategy.
"We're right around the corner from people setting New Year's resolutions. For the most part, people who have set a healthrelated goal, whether it's of getting in the best shape of their life or losing 10 pounds, they've probably set that same resolution for the past 10 years," he said.
Logically, he continues, these people know why a healthy lifestyle is a smart choice. "But for five or 15 or 20 years, they haven't done it even though intellectually they know they should."
It's not enough to commit to taking the stairs, buying a gym membership or subscribing to a low-calorie food delivery system, he said.
"Automatically people go right to the how: how am I going to do this? Whatever it is, it's how: How? How? How? What they need to do is ask themselves why. They need to ask themselves why they're doing it."
This is the most crucial advice he says he gives clients.
"If the why is powerful enough, the how figures itself out," he reasoned. "If there is no why, then there is no reason not to indulge."
Twitter: @MHStewart
