How many of you have said or experienced something similar to these comments that have derailed you from your fitness program? These are all issues where you may feel you have lost control, but you don’t have to feel that way.

Focus on changing what you can, not what you can’t!

This is a good rule to follow and something that many people need to redirect their focus to. All to often people are focusing on the wrong things. The things that they have no control on changing. I am here to tell you to stop and redirect your focus to things that you can change.

How can you do this?

I will strictly discuss how to do this for fitness and our bodies, but you can apply this in other areas of your life.

First, you need to evaluate if what you want to change is a wish, an excuse or a problem.

Let’s discuss some of these and how to redirect your focus into changing the things that you can.

A wish is something that we want or desire and do not have. When it comes to fitness and our bodies everybody has something about themselves that they probably want to change or wish they had.

Personally, I wish I was taller but, clearly that is not something that I can change. So, how do I redirect my focus on what I can change?

I can work on my posture. By working on my posture I will appear and feel taller. If I slouch, slump over, or put my head down I will appear smaller than I really am. For years now I have incorporated postural exercises into my workout including exercises in pilates, yoga and strength training to help me work the muscles, bones and joints that directly effect posture. This has made me feel and even appear taller. I have actually had people ask me if I got taller or not believe my height because I appear to be taller than I really am.

Same focus redirecting can be applied to specific areas of the body and weight loss. You will not be able to change the body you have been given but, you can make it the best body it can be.

An excuse is something you try to justify. In fitness and as a trainer we hear a lot of excuses. Excuses are probably the easiest of the three to change because it is usually our own selves holding us back and the mindset we have. In some cases that can be changed and in others it can not. With each excuse you need to look at the parts of the excuse that can be changed. “I have no time to workout” is a very common excuse and sometimes it’s justified and sometimes it’s not. We all have busy lives and things can get crazy, trying to find time to exercise is hard. However, I do find most of the time we can dissect someones schedule and find a way to fit it in.

When it comes to ones schedules there are things that we can’t change and there are things that we can. Some things we can’t change are our work, school, appointments and activity schedules. What we can change is TV, family, friends, shopping and other personal time.

One of the reasons I add family and friends into the things we can change is not because I don’t want you to spend time with them but, because you can change the way you spend your time together. You can do something active while you do spend time with them. Ask your friends or family to go on a walk instead of out to dinner. Partner up with a friend and go to the gym. Find an active activity your whole family can do. These are ways you can fit a workout in and still have quality time spent with your family and friends.

Evaluate your TV time. If you typically watch an hour or more of TV a few times a week. Take just 30 minutes of that time and do a workout. There are tons of available 30 minute or less workouts you can do or follow right from your phone or mobile device including my Build Your Stronger Self 16 Week Program (click link for an exclusive freinds, family and followers discount).

Do the same with your other personal and shopping time. Find out what you really need to do and what you can give up or give less time to to allow more time for workouts.

A Problem is something that is difficult to deal with and will stand in the way of your fitness goals. Some things considered a problem in fitness would be an injury, sickness, medical issue or anything that would truly stand in the way of getting in your workouts. This is something you will not be able to change so let’s discuss what changes you can make when workouts are just not an option.

When workouts are not an option you need to redirect your focus to your nutrition, this you can change and have control over. What you put in your body is more than half of the work to achieving and maintaining your fitness goals. This is going to be really important when you are limited on the activity you are able to do.

Take this time to allow your body to recover and fuel your body with super foods and proper nutrition. This will keep your body in shape and strong. If you limit your activity and practice poor nutrition you are basically giving up. At the same time you will surely loose any progress you made and trying to come back to a fitness program will prove to be extremely difficult.

These are just a few examples of ways you can redirect your focus to the things that you can change. Think of all the time and energy wasted on worrying about things you can’t change and have no control over and start to use that time and energy to focus on the things you can change. This will keep you in better spirits and make you feel in control rather than feeling like you have lost it.