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    Easy as 1-2-3

    fitnessInside Out Fitness is a whole new way of looking at fitness. You determine what’s best for you and your body and then you actually do that with ease and grace. You develop the skills to allow beneficial behavior–exercise–to flow easily. With Inside Out Fitness we define success in this way: Doing what I said I would do about exercise consistently and without struggle.

    Today we are going to take a deeper look at the system that allows the “without struggle” aspect. This system is what brings balance to your self-care decisions. It is what allows you to no longer be worried or anxious about your exercise practice. It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

    First let’s look at how most people do fitness. There are the driven or obsessed people who get it done no matter what … even when resting would be better. These folks do not always live a balanced life, and yet society gives them the moral high ground. You might hear someone say, “Well, at least it’s a healthy obsession.”

    When you are doing such driven behavior you often feel pretty tight about it; there’s no breathing room. Stress is high. Most of us get a little driven about something in life, so you might know what I’m talking about. This way of getting exercise done does, in fact, get it done, but there is no ease or grace. People often fear that if they don’t exercise they will get fat or will never get started again. Injuries are prevalent in the exercise obsessed.

    Then there are some people who get a certain amount of exercise done with regularity and feel pretty good about it. They have a routine and they can stick to it, mostly. There is sometimes a good feeling about it and, at times, the feeling of taking medicine. There is some struggle if they get knocked off the routine to get back on. This more relaxed approach is pretty good. Inside Out Fitness can help these folks become more reliable and happy with their fitness routine.

    Then there are people who start and stop routinely, or who can’t get started and feel frustrated about that. If you want, or know you need, to be exercising and you are not doing it, then you have split energy. Split energy is a big drain and often makes you feel lousy about yourself. The only option is to figure a way to do what you want to do, or stop wanting to do it.

    Inside Out Fitness has a system that helps you to exercise consistently and without struggle. This system is what smooths out any fitness path. It’s called AAA: Alignment-Action-Appreciation (easy as 1-2-3).

    Alignment always comes first before any action. You find Alignment in the moment by thinking a good feeling thought. Try it now. Find someone (a pet is good) who is easy to love and think about them, ahh. You can also use the thought of a recent vacation, great sex or a really good moment. It can be anything that brings a smile or that relaxes you. Doesn’t that feel nice?

    Action comes next. This can be a small step, as we discussed in the last column, or you can be walking into the gym or starting your morning walk. Any action you take will be leveraged if you get into Alignment first.

    Appreciation is the icing on the cake in AAA. It sweetens the whole deal. When you appreciate yourself and every accomplishment, no matter how small, you are setting yourself up to feel good. When you feel good, beneficial behavior comes naturally. AAA helps you to set up an easy flow of beneficial behavior. You are allowing, instead of pushing. You make good decisions for yourself and then accomplish them. It’s easy as 1-2-3: Alignment-Action-Appreciation!

    The next time we will talk more about Action and finding the next best step for you.

    If you have questions, feel free to email coach@cinderernst.com. Cinder Ernst, Medical Exercise Specialist and Life Coach Extraordinaire, helps reluctant exercisers get moving with safe, effective and fun programs. Find out more at http://cinderernst.com