The Business of Getting (or Staying) Fit

By Angie Fenton

We all know it’s important to take time for our health, exercise and eating right. There’s nothing new about that. But, what if we began to treat our bodies like we approach our jobs?

You wouldn’t miss an appointment with a client or your boss, right? Being late to an important meeting is not an option, either, lest you risk appearing unprofessional and inept. Committing to see a project through to fruition is a must. Writing or typing in calendar alerts and making a schedule is imperative to professional success. So, what if we looked at our health that way and gave our personal fitness as much attention and respect as we do our professional lives?

I asked fitness guru Rashna Carmicle – creator and owner of B.YOU Her Modern Fitness Boutique– to provide a few pointers for those of us who are interested in the business of getting – or staying – fit. The following is her advice:

“I’m too busy” is probably the most common excuse I hear for missing workouts, but life is insanely busy for everyone these day, whether you are a CEO, a stay-at-home mom, a combination of both, or even just a kid or teenager. I believe the reason for this collective feeling of “crazy-busy” is right at our finger tips: constant connectivity to every aspect of our lives through email, text, social media, messaging, apps and the list goes on (and on and on and on). So, we have to treat our personal health and fitness as a priority, just as we do our professional and social lives. Here are a few ways to do that.

Change your mindset. There are so many things in life that are completely out of our control, but one thing we do have control over is our mindset. Change your view of working out from being a chore to being something you are doing for”yourself, and better yet, for those around you. Speaking from my own experience, if my workout routine starts to go astray, I am just plain cranky, and those who are closest to me have to suffer through it. They would welcome my hour away if it meant a happier, more energized wife, mom, boss or co-worker. Knowing this makes me view fitness as a priority just like brushing my teeth, going to work and driving my kids to school.

Write an action plan. If you were launching a new product, building a house or developing a new marketing strategy, you would write some sort of plan. Why not do this very same thing for your fitness journey. What are your short-term and long-term goals? What steps do you need to take to achieve them? How can you hold yourself accountable or, better yet, find someone to help hold you accountable, like a personal trainer or workout buddy.

Find a workout that works for YOU. My husband could do a spin class or cycle outdoors for three hours straight every day of the week, but if you told me I had to do that, I would give every excuse in the book. On the other hand, I absolutely love running and the feeling I get after a long run, but my body – my bad hip in particular – does NOT love the pain it feels afterwards. This is how we came to find trampoline fitness and introduced B.Bounce at B.YOU. It gives you the full-on cardio and sweat with 80 percent less impact. I was instantly obsessed! You have to find the right workout for your body and the workout that is going to motivate you and keep you coming back for more. If working out still feels like a chore after changing your mindset, then perhaps you need to change it up and find something new.

Find a workout buddy. Collaboration, or working with others, is often the key to success in business, education, entrepreneurship and so much more, but it can also be the key to success in your fitness routine as well. While I consider myself a fairly self-motivated individual, through my many years of trying various fitness regimens, I have always found that those involving a group is far more motivating to me. Whether it has been a single running partner, a five-person boot camp or a 20-person group fitness class, the level that I challenge and push myself is far greater than what I would have had I been working out on my own. Not only that, but it is much tougher to skip out on a workout when they’re waiting for me to show up. It holds me accountable. So, I always encourage people to find a workout buddy or try a group fitness class because collaboration may be the key to your success in making health and fitness a priority.

Schedule, schedule, schedule. Clients tell me regularly how much they love the fact that they have to schedule their classes because it helps to hold them accountable. Whether or not you are scheduling a class at B.YOU or another studio that has an online booking system, be sure to add your workouts to your own personal calendar each week. It makes a big difference to your commitment level if the time is already penciled in just like your other obligations.

Working out is only half the battle. Remember that being healthy is not only working out; eating healthy is just as important. You have to balance both, especially if your goal is weight-loss. If you are training five days a week but eating fast food, carbs and sugar, your results are going to be few and far between. You also have to steer clear of fad diets and try to adopt healthy eating habits that are realistic and sustainable. The key is balance.

Don’t beat yourself up. Our busy realities aren’t always conducive to our plan; we all fall off the wagon once in a while. When you do, don’t beat yourself up and definitely don’t give up. Just move on, refocus on your goal and get back to it the next day.