Train Your Way To Better Things

Some things in life you could do naturally. Those are easy to do, of course. But with other things, you need some training. Unfortunately, it is the thing you need training with that would improve your life.

One of my biggest struggles is eating more fruits and veggies. I am not naturally inclined to eat all the healthy stuff. I like to go for all the junk foods. I'd much rather have cereal or pancakes for breakfast rather than a fruit smoothie. I'd rather have pizza for lunch than something with vegetables in it. I'd rather have a cheeseburger for dinner than to have, I don't know, some healthy crap that won't taste good.

Now, my natural inclination for the bad foods is caused by YEARS of exposure to these foods. So, if I want something to eat, I would want something fast and tasty like McDonald's food or something.

My natural inclinations are, of course, no good for my health. I can't live a good life with French fries, hot dogs, pizza, ice cream, and doughnuts. So, I would need to TRAIN myself to desire the healthy foods that would actually do my body some real good.

In order to train myself, I have to place certain rules on me.

• Rule 1: I have to have one fruit or veggie with each meal I eat.
• Rule 2: I have to get rid of the processed foods from my house.
• Rule 3: I have to be willing to cook instead of going for packaged foods that you could pop in the microwave.
• Rule 4: I have to stop bringing food home from a party.
• Rule 5: I need to think of creative ways to make healthy food more tasty.

My goal is to naturally want to eat healthy foods. But this takes training on my part. I need to make more conscious decisions for my actions rather than do things haphazardly.

Another one of my struggles is simply to eat something. I could get caught up in doing a project and could forget to eat. This has had quite an impact on me, because I was losing weight, getting pains, and my exercise performance was suffering. But once I decided to eat more food, my exercise performance improved, my bodily aches were going away, and I started getting more muscular!

So, my natural inclinations are to under-eat and eat mostly the bad stuff. I need to train myself to eat more and to eat the healthy stuff.

I have plenty of natural inclinations that make me feel good AT FIRST, but then I'll feel horrible afterwards. The things I have to train for won't feel good at first, but afterwards I would feel amazing!

It's like coming to fitness class. Does it feel good to do a million squats and lunges? Believe it or not, squats are one of my LEAST favorite exercises! Any leg exercises, for that matter, are my least favorite exercise. But in ZUMBA, what exercise do we seem to do over and over again? Leg exercises! Why? Because leg exercises:

• Burn more calories than any other exercises.
• Strengthen your knees to reduce or prevent osteoarthritis.
• Strengthen your butt muscles to give you good posture.
• Lift your butt so it won't be flat and saggy.
• Tone your quads and calves.
  
• Help you run faster and jump higher.
  
• Help you stand for long periods of time without pain.
  

And the list goes on! No, these reasons won't make you like squats any more than you do now, but at least you could see the potential contribution squats and other leg exercises could make on your health.

Heck, it's natural for us to just not want to do any exercises. How many of you like getting out of bed to go for a jog? How many of you enjoy leaving work to sweat hard before bed time? Exercise is not usually something we naturally want to do. We'd much rather do nothing! But doing nothing would destroy our bodies. Doing something, would build up our bodies.

Doing what you're not naturally inclined to do would benefit you more than doing what you naturally want to do.

How many of you know how to read? I'll assume that ALL of you know how to read if you're reading this. Did you come out of your mother's nether regions with a book in your hand? No, you had to TRAIN to read. You see the struggle that people who can't read have everyday? It's easy to get by without reading if you're a kid. Once you're an adult, the struggle gets real!

When you were learning how to read, was it a pleasant experience? Heck no! You felt stupid the whole time, and it was mentally draining. But now, you could live on your own because you could fill out your own job application.

Did you come out of Mommy with a ruler in your hand? No, you had to TRAIN yourself to know math. For some of you, math is still a difficult subject, but at least you know how to count your money. You know how to add, subtract, divide, and multiply -- at least when doing simple problems, which is all you need to get around in life.

Most of the stuff you're doing now required training:

• Walking.
• Brushing your teeth.
• Washing yourself.
• Using the toilet.
• Driving.
• Cooking.
• Reading and writing.
• Filling out job applications.
  
• Reading a map.
  
• E-mailing.
  
• Browsing the internet.
  

You are where you are because you had training. Now, you could be in a better place if you are willing to TRAIN YOUR WAY THERE.

• Want to be a morning person? You have to train for it.
• Want to be more fit? You have to train for it.
• Want to eat better? You have to train for it.
• Want to leave a bad habit? You have to train for it.
• Want to build a good habit? You have to train for it.
• Want to be on time? You have to train for it.
  

Very few things that would benefit us would come naturally to us. Just a few things. Very few things. For the most part, we need to train ourselves to better things in life.

What is it that you're trying to get? Are you able to get it naturally? If not, then you need to train your way to it.

Naturally, you want to give up, feel sorry for yourself, use excuses, get distracted, and just do things that would serve you no purpose. It's time to train yourself for things that will serve you well.

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