Fit to Print Volume 24 Issue 2 June 2015 | Page 14

M e m b e r Pe r s p e c t i v e By Andrea Kay Saboteur 5 Ways You Are Sabotaging Yourself in the Gym I would weigh in and every week was a scratch. It was so frustrating and there was a lot of self talk about quitting. I had a very specific result in mind every week and when that didn't happen, I was totally deflated. The biggest thing I learned from that experience was to trust the process. Things take time. Just because my goals weren't being met in the (unrealistic) time line I set in my head didn't mean they wouldn't be reached in time. When I meet someone that wants to T his article goes out to anyone out there that may be frustrated in their fitness journey. Do you link together a few months coming to the gym, and then fade out a bit before stopping all together, only to start up again a few months later? Maybe starting and stopping isn't the issue. Maybe you have no problem getting there, but when you are there you just can't keep yourself motivated. Whatever it is, you've started to spiral. If that's the case, this article is for you. If not, skip this one and come back to it after you've read all the other great articles offered to you. Ok, so now what? Let's see if we can't figure out what's going on so we can make some adjustments to get you back on track. These offenders made the list because they seem to be the ones that (for me) are most likely to be reoffenders. For whatever reason, some lessons need to be learned time and again, so let's dig in. 1. Having unrealistic expectations. Setting goals is good. Having unrealistic expectations tied to those goals is bad. We're all guilty of this at one point or another. We don't want to short change ourselves so we set big goals. Big goals are great. I'm all about big goals, but it's easy to fall into the trap of tying unrealistic expectations to those goals. I remember the first time I did the Fantastic 4 challenge. I thought I was going to do amazingly well. I followed Rachael's nutritional guidelines to a tee and I hit the gym hard, and every week 14 We don't want to short change ourselves so we set big goals. Big goals are great. I'm all about big goals, but it's easy to fall into the trap of tying unrealistic expectations to those goals. start running, they usually have a goal in mind, and that goal is usually not too far off. “ ^KH