When was the last time you had to challenge yourself... mentally?

When people talk about health and fitness, the first thing they think about is the physical challenge of exercise.

During our lives we come across numerous mental challenges – some are small and take minimal time to work through, while others require much more thought. I recently came up against a significant mental challenge, different to anything I had experienced before. For those who don’t know I have a 4 month old daughter. My wife and daughter mean everything to me and I haven’t spent an evening away from them since my daughter was born.

Last week the Y conducted a winter sleep out to raise funds for our charity Open Doors. It was a fantastic idea but for me the challenge wasn’t the physical aspect of sleeping outside in the cold wintery weather. It was the mentality of spending the night away from my family for the first time.

Mental challenges also apply to your health and fitness. The biggest mental challenge most people face is getting to the gym. We sit at home umming and arring whether we should go to the gym or not and by the time a decision is made it’s too late. Physically there aren’t any issues, it’s just having that mental challenge of getting up off the couch and going to the gym. 

Does this sound like you?

If you answered yes then read on. If this was you, but not any longer, well done on making the change.

For those reading on there are a few strategies you can put it place to help you get over those mental challenges.

1)    Pencil your workouts in your diary – treat your workouts just like any other appointment, write it down and stick to it

2)    Find a workout buddy – training with a partner or friend has so many benefits. You’ll be able to motivate each other to get to the gym and during your workouts

3)    Try Personal Training – Having a PT will keep you motivated and accountable to your workouts – plus they make it fun!

Now you have some strategies, go about implementing them and let me know how you go, I’d love to hear your feedback.

By the way - I did make it to the sleep out...

Healthy Regards

Tristan Simmons

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - Confucius

Your health and fitness goals are a journey and will be journey for as long as it takes for you to reach them. Every time you walk out your front door to come to the centre, that is another step of your journey.

Some steps will be harder than others, some steps will make you want to give up, sometimes you’ll feel like your stepping backwards but if you stick to your journey and continue taking those steps, it will be one of the most rewarding achievements of your life.

So what is your goal? How far along the journey are you? Do you have a goal?
If you haven’t set any health and fitness goals, now is a great time.

Goal setting isn’t hard or time consuming, however it is a must. It gives us all a target to work towards which is extremely important in health and fitness. I bet you didn’t just join up for the sake of joining a gym, I bet you had a goal in your mind when you when first walked through the door.

As I mentioned earlier, your goals will change along the journey and you must continue to set new ones. Some will be big, some small, nevertheless it gives us the motivation to get off the couch, hop in the car and drive to the gym. We invest time every day to set and evaluate goals in other parts of our life, now take that little bit of time and look at your fitness goals.

Where do you want to be in 6 months?
Many people love to look great and feel good for the warmer months. The only problem is, majority of people wait until those warmer months are upon us to start exercising and by then it’s too late.
Just remember life is a journey, when one ends, another begins. You’ll never stop taking those steps, but it’s up to you how you want to take those steps.
My advice to you is to set your goal and make every step towards that goal count!

- Tristan Simmons

YMCA Whittlesea Winter Sleep Out

On Friday 2^nd August, YMCA Whittlesea staff conducted a Winter Sleep out to raise funds for YMCA Open Doors. The night, organised by Rebecca Davis, was a great success with $1000 raised. It was a great experience and gave the opportunity for our staff team to bond and raise money for a great cause. It was quite chilly on the night but everybody’s positive attitudes made a fun and positive environment, as you’ll see from our photo’s below. Different challenges were set during the night which added some laughter and humour to the night. Well done to everyone who attended and donated, your contributions are what we are all about and it will give us the opportunity to help individuals and families participate in our programs. A huge thank you to Beck for organising the night, great effort.

 

 

If you would like to donate to YMCA Open Doors, please speak to one of our friendly staff who can help you out.