Social Media and Your Fitness Goals

Friends and clients often ask me about various tricks, supplements, and weight-loss systems to help kickstart their weight loss or to break through plateaus. My answer is always the same: eat clean and exercise regularly. But what I often leave out (mostly because it’s a difficult, delicate pill to swallow), is that you have to be honest with yourself about your own habits: The truth shall set your goals free.

Social media is a great way to keep in touch, but it’s also an excellent catalog of your own habits. Scroll through your Facebook or Instagram account. How often are you posting pics of you and your friends having drinks? How many awesome desserts and fabulous meals have you concocted? How often are you checking in at restaurants and eateries?

Your efforts don’t begin in the gym. They don’t begin in your kitchen. They begin in your heart and mind, at the point where you are ready to admit that your habits are not the best, forgive yourself for it, and resolve to make the change. If you are not willing to do those three things, no smoothie maker, pill, powder, exercise DVD, or app is going to work. Especially not long-term.

We love to throw around phrases such as “lifestyle change” and “healthy living.” But we rarely talk or think about the volume of effort that goes into truly making those changes. It can be overwhelming, especially when we are struggling with want vs. need. You have to truly want to make changes—of any kind. “I need to stop eating poorly.” “I need to go to the gym more.” Until need becomes want this will not work.  But when you do make the decision, it’ll feel better than any sundae or appletini you’ve ever had.

Use your social media outlets to support your efforts. Post healthy meal photos. Share fitness milestones, even if you think it’s small or lame. If you walked a mile for the first time today, share it! New sneakers? Post them! Working out with friends? Instagram and tag it. Be proud of yourself. You’ll be amazed at the volume of feedback. The people who love you want you to succeed and be healthy. Share it.