When stress can be good

Did you ever read one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure Books" when you were a kid?

You know the ones - where you get to pick the story line from a small list of choices at the bottom of the page, near the end of the chapter? One book could result in 50 different stories.

I read somewhere in a women's magazine recently, that publishers have even tapped into the adult romance market with "Choose Your Own Adventure" love stories.

Well, your health and fitness is a bit like reading one of those books.

There you are, just living your life, trying to stay fit and feeling good and something happens that forces you to make a choice. Now, the choice may be something like "do I have dessert, or do I just skip to coffee?" Or "do I go to football training tonight, despite my twisted ankle from the last session?"

You cruise through to the end of the chapter/dinner/day at work and you are faced with choices that can have many different outcomes that impact the way you look and feel.

This is called motivation.

It is a powerful group of complex feelings that come from both within your hard-wired brain and from the environment.

Another word for motivation is stress. Yes - stress. But there are generally three kinds of stress.

One is called eustress' (yes, that is the correct spelling).

This describes the type of stress you feel in a positive way when you are excited and thrilled about something.

Another one is simply called positive stress and this is what generally, makes us get up in the morning and go through the motions. The third one is called anxiety.

This is negative stress that you feel when it seems the world is out to get you.

It's the second one (positive stress) we need to harness and make work for us, while avoiding the third one (anxiety) and hoping to get more of the first one (eustress)!

We deny ourselves our dessert and go to the gym, even when we are tired, because of the reward we feel from it.

This reward comes in measurable sets of results such as looking thinner and firmer, avoiding disease and living longer and feeling better emotionally.

The exact motivation to deny ourselves and continue to exercise will of course, differ from person to person, as will the results.

The common factor is that sense of positive stress that keeps us doing it.

We choose our own adventure based on what we each get out of it.

If you decide you get more pleasure from eating the dessert on the couch at home and avoiding the gym, you will choose this "adventure" instead.

The underlying main point of all of this is that the brain and the learning links you have made in it from the day you were born is your in-built "Choose Your Own Adventure Book" and the words on the page is the life you live

So many people think somehow that the brain is disassociated from the body in a physical sense and that exercise starts from the neck down.

They could not be more wrong.

So, how does one become more motivated to do the "right thing" and get more eustress in their life?

There are some tools that I show to fitness clients and students to get them to reconsider the choices they make.

First of all, have a fitness and health goal. Say to yourself over and over again 'I want to lose 10 pounds/win the triathlon/improve my depression/keep up with my kids more/' to make your brain form a stronger link in your mind that will result in a gradual change in behaviour.

NEVER focus on the 'dessert you have forsaken/the pain you feel from those bicep curls/how stiff your back is today/the cigarettes you are craving/the medication and hassel your doctor seems to be putting you through' and ALWAYS focus on this goal, especially when the going gets tough.

Secondly, have tangible and readily accessible motivational pieces at your disposal - however cheesy your friends might think they are.

For example, a popular choice is to have picture of a gorgeous male/female, rippling with health and vitality, almost always in a swimsuit of some description, plastered on your fridge or pantry.

You may think twice about what you get out of it to eat! Better, yet, throw all your junk food from the fridge and pantry into the bin and only take a healthy food list shopping with you and STICK TO IT.

Repeat to yourself "Nothing tastes as good, as feeling thin and healthy feels".

Another popular choice is to leave fitness equipment out on display. You can almost hear it whispering to you, can't you..?

Thirdly, surround yourself with positive people who are supportive of your goal.

Talk openly with your partner about your aspirations and reasons tell them clearly how they can help.

If you have decided to give up smoking and your partner still smokes, for example, make a rule that there is to be strictly no smoking in the house or car from now on when the two of you are together.

Positive and caring people will be good role models and good inspiration that will also help form those strong links in your mind.

Additionally, making a commitment to exercise with a friend, or a sports team, will make you feel guilty and cause anxiety (which is an adventure we want to avoid) if you do not go for it!

And make friends with people who have the same goal as you do.

Lastly, do it right.

If you try and try again and still do not make the progress you were hoping to, then something is not working.

So, you must talk to your doctor/counsellor/nutritionist/caring and qualified fitness instructor, for what is going to help you meet your goals, while minimising anxiety.

Take a deep breath ... now go for it! Good luck everyone!