Here’s just a quick follow up post to the part 1 of this same title.

A note about the gaining 37 lbs. on vacation. Now, I did this just for fun and I don’t recommend it to anyone else. But this was a 1 week vacation. Just 7 days. That’s it.

I managed to fit as much food possible into my mouth at every feeding time.

I ceased all physical activity (anything more than brushing my teeth).

And the result, I went from about 222 to 259. That’s right at about 37 lbs.

Just an example of how much eating can have an affect on your fitness. So the take home lesson here is: No amount of exercise can counteract poor food choices. Actually this same theme was in last month’s InHealthNW article about food journaling.

Now when it comes to fitness, what do you think has the main influence on how you look?

1. Is it your actions every day
2. Your friends for tempting you various foods
3. Your parents for giving you the genetics you have
4. The donut guy at work for bringing the box of donuts every week

While 2,3 & 4 may certainly have an influence on your fitness. It is ultimately up to you to determine how you want to look and feel. You are in control of how you look, you are not a victim to any circumstances. One of my favorite quotes goes something like this: “successful people in life believe they create their life through the actions, not a victim to life’s circumstances”.

Too often we defer the blame, guilt, responsibility to outside of ourselves. As a way to relieve pressure and have a valid excuse.

I’m writing a series of articles for Eve Magazine on this very thing - Excuse Busters. Just this last month was about “Are You Playing The Blame…

I admit, I don’t eat perfect all the time. I’ve even been known to clean out the fridge at times =) (one particular week on vacation I gained 37 pounds).

The real secret to getting and staying in great shape is consistency, not short bouts of perfection. Even 80% on track consistently is a great start.

So if you eat 4 times a day - that’s 28 meals a week. That gives you 5 meals to be less than perfect and enjoy your meals to an extent.

You can certainly be better than 80%, especially as you get leaner, but hey 80% is definitely better than 0%. See how it’s done here Spokane Fitness Success