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Summary
On episode 185 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan runs through 11 “enemies” that trip people up on their health and fitness journey, from difficult people in your life to gym etiquette headaches, with a strategy for handling each one.
Some of the enemies are people close to you (happy miserables, drinking buddies, well-meaning friends and family, non-participants at home) and some are situational (potluck planners, school fundraisers, sick people working out, bad personal trainers, competitors and loiterers at the gym).
His overall approach is consistent: know yourself, plan ahead for the temptation or friction point, and decide in advance how you will handle it rather than relying on willpower in the moment.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- Happy miserables reflect their own paradigm, not yours. Their negativity is how they see their own life, not a judgment on yours, and since you cannot change their mindset, the healthiest move is to let it go rather than absorb their stress.
- Drinking buddies require a pre-planned strategy, not just willpower. Eating a clean meal before going out, alternating a glass of water with each drink, and setting a firm rule in advance (like never doing shots) makes it possible to stay social without the damage.
- Potluck planners and school fundraisers are food traps you can plan around. Bring a healthy dish you know you will actually eat, keep good snacks at your desk so you are not walking into a break room hungry, and remember you can support a cause with a donation without eating the junk food tied to it.
- Competitors at the gym only win if you let them change your plan. Walking in with a specific workout in mind and sticking to it, rather than matching a stranger’s pace, is the actual win; racing someone else’s plan usually means over or under training for your own goals.
- Loiterers hogging equipment require you to be direct. Politely asking to work in between someone’s sets is reasonable and expected gym etiquette; your membership entitles you to the equipment just as much as anyone camping on it while texting.
- Working out sick puts other gym members at risk, and a bad personal trainer puts you at risk. Without a fever it is fine to train, but do it at home rather than exposing others; separately, a good trainer listens to your goals and corrects your form, while a bad one talks more than they listen and can teach you to move incorrectly.
- Well-meaning friends and family push their own beliefs, not malice. Their pushback on an unfamiliar approach, like a low-carb, high-fat diet, usually comes from what they have read in headlines; stick with your own approach as long as it is working for you.
- Non-participants at home do not have to derail your eating plan. Cooking a shared base of meat and vegetables, then letting family members add their own extras (cheese, macaroni, bread), lets everyone eat together without doubling meal prep.
“This is their opinion or their view, paradigm of their life, not their view of your life or your view of their life.”
Coach Allan