Monday, October 4, 2010

A disturbing thing I have seen at ELITE Fitness and Education

We have officially been open for two years as of this Friday. During that two years we have seen hundreds of people make amazing transformations in their bodies and their lives. It has been very exciting and inspirational to say the least.

Unfortunately, not everyone that gets great results maintains them and that is the point of this article. I can think of about 10 people from the wall of fame that have not maintained. The question is, why not? The obvious answer is because they stopped doing what it was, that got them those results in the first place. I want to write this article to pre-warn those who are well on their to achieving success so they do not fall into the same trap. Why does a person go from feeling amazing and great, and then let themselves go back to their old ways? Let me explain. Let's say Ethel, (I use Ethel because I have never had a client named Ethel, and I don't want anyone to think I am singling them out.) is 50 pounds overweight. Let's also say she has been 50 pounds overweight for at least one year. If that is the case that means she is doing some number of things to maintain that. What I mean is that if I overeat for one month I will gain weight. If I stop overeating the next month I will lose the extra weight I gained before the "bad" month. Does that make sense? If someone maintains 50 extra pounds of weight that means they are consistenly overeating to maintain that. It's not like, if I overeat just one time, that weight stays with me forever. I have to keep overeating, otherwise, my weight would go back down.

Getting back to Ethel, if she is 50 pounds overweight and maintains that, it means she has created an environment to be 50 pounds overweight. So she is fed up with it and comes to our ELITE Boot camp. While she is in boot camp she avoids sugar, processed foods, half off margarita night, and many other bad habits she created for herself in the past. After 6-7 months she reaches her goal and is happy.

The problem occurs when she finishes boot camp and leaves her "50 pound less" environment. She stops hanging out with her boot camp buddies and before you know it, the only influences she has, are the friends and family from her "50 pounds overweight" environment. Now, let me pause here for a moment and clarify that I am not suggesting that someone forsake their family and friends for the purpose of having a better life. This is what we call our "4th peer group" concept in boot camp. I came up with this concept after seeing so many people get results and then lose them after the program was over. We do not want you to kick your loved ones to the curb. Instead, we want you to create another peer group of people that understand what you are wanting to do. You see, most people have three peer groups. Their immediate family they live with, the people they work with, and a close group of friends or church group. Most people have those three groups and they are very often, not as supportive as we would like them to be. By creating a fourth peer group, you have another group of people that completely understand what you are wanting to do, and because they are on the same journey as you, they can be more supportive.

So Ethel has lost 50 pounds but goes back to the same environment that got her 50 pounds overweight in the first place. Does it make sense why she gains the weight back? You are, whatever your environment is. This is not always true, however, it is more often than not. When kids grow up surrounded by alcohol and abuse, it is easy for them to follow in that environment. If you hang out with ELITE athletes, it is difficult to serve pastries and cookies at social events. At the same time, if you hang out with overweight people that do not worry about themselves, it is difficult to do the right thing. The answer for you, and Ethel, is to maintain the support group after you finish boot camp. You will not likely be in boot camp forever and you need an environment of positive energy and "like-minded" people to give you that "recharge and refocus."

This is why I tell people to use their gym membership like most people use church. Nobody I know, goes to church 7 days a week, not even the pastor. Most people go to church once, maybe twice a week to hang out with "like-minded" people and get an emotional recharge. You do not need to be a fitness fanatic to be in good shape. You can do 2 workouts at home then come to the gym 1-2 times a week to get that recharge. Come to a free seminar, check out the new articles we write, or check out the "workout of the week" board for new workout ideas. This will insure you maintain focus, and your hard earned success.

If you finish boot camp and say "I can just do my boot camp workouts at home" you will most likely be disappointed. The problem with "at home" workouts is there are too many distractions at home. You are "the boss" at home and no one can make you do the right thing. You are surrounded by your favorite furniture and your favorite foods. There is very little that is good for you at home when it comes to fitness.

Now I want to talk directly to the people that got really good results with ELITE and then left, only to lose their success. If you have left, please know you can always come back. I would never make anyone feel bad for leaving and will always welcome you back with open arms. I will even sing the song "open arms" to you although, I do not do a very good Steve Perry. If you left and wen to another program and you have maintained your results, I am not talking to you. Of course, you are always welcome back, and I am just happy you have maintained. I am talking to those of you who left, and are not sure how I will act, or you are embarrassed to come back. I call it going home to "die from shame." Some people will never come back because they think I will point at them and say something nasty like "I told you so, or YOU NEED ME." I promise that will never happen. I understand how hard it is to not only get results, but then maintain them.

I am writing this article now, because as summer winds down I am getting alot of people coming back to the gym after their summer "off" from their program. I am so happy and grateful to get them back, but I also know there are other people who have not come back. They will continue trying "100 other programs" instead of coming back to the one that got them results in the first place. If you don't like me, I get it. Alot of people don't care for my "in your face- no excuses" personality. I have a brand new fitness manager who I can only describe as a more educated, "soft and creamy" version of me. Give him a shot. You can even come in when I am out of the gym. I just want you to get your results back. His name is Tom and he is awesome. If you want to meet with him you can email him directly at Tom@elitefiteducate.org.

If you want to email me I am at Victor@elitefiteducate.org. You can send me a private email and tell me you want to come back or you can tell me what an unbelievable S.O.B. you think I am. I don't take it personal as long as you are getting results.

You can also continue to keep up with my new articles at www.elitefiteducate.org.

All the best to everyone this holiday season,

Victor Brawner, Fitness Hero
ELITE Fitness and Education

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