If there is one thing that is hard to get started on in life, it’s starting a healthier lifestyle. I have struggled with weight gain for years and probably tell myself every day that tomorrow is the day that I turn it around, I’ve told myself that for years! That was until a few months ago when I gained inspiration out of nowhere to actually commit to losing weight and eating better. I knew I could not do it on my own though, I had been trying to do it on my own for years and I just don’t have the mental capacity to discipline and hold myself accountable. What made a difference this time? Pairing myself up with a personal trainer, I sit here 2 months later down 22 lbs and want to go over the major benefits I have seen from having a personal trainer.
Accountability
The top reason I feel I could not gain any ground on my health by myself was because I could not hold myself accountable. After a week of eating well I would usually tell myself, “Hey you’ve been doing great, you should treat yourself Daniel!” and that would be it. I would find myself eating frozen pizza almost every night again and feeling terrible in the process. Most people I talk to seem to struggle with the same thing, holding themselves accountable. A personal trainer is as good as accountability gets and in my experience they are great as making it a positive experience. The key thing my personal trainer told me was that if I had a slip in my eating or skipped a day exercising, just acknowledge it, accept it, and move on as if it never happened. While a simple concept, having someone else telling me that made a HUGE difference instead of telling myself that.
I also had twice a week where I would meet my personal trainer at the gym, having that appointment set really made me mentally prepare myself that no matter what, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30 pm, I was going to meet him. It is much harder to skip out on the gym when someone is waiting there for you! Were there times I tried to come up with excuses to not go! Of course! I always sucked it up and showed up anyways, and it felt great every time I did that. That first time you don’t want to go to the gym but do anyways and have a great experience is a major breakthrough.
Education
There is a ton of info out in the internet world when it comes to health and nutrition. In my opinion, a lot of it seems to contradict each other. One article tells you that you need to cut off carbs and another article tells you, that you NEED carbs. It can get overwhelming and confusing and make you just give up from the start. The best thing my trainer told me was that I need to find what works for me, and different things work for different people.
So for the first few weeks, I tried different ways of eating such as paleo, calorie counting, macronutrient tracking, and intermittent fasting. It turned out intermittent fasting worked great for me and so I went for that. The education my PT offered me was invaluable because it was coming from a person I decided to trust and it wasn’t just a page on the internet. Having that communication with someone in person really makes a difference when learning about what works for you.
Motivation
This might be the most important benefit here. I don’t know about anyone else but I am my own worse critic. When it comes to fitness if I hit on little speed bump I become all out of sorts and it is hard to reel myself back in. A fantastic thing about a personal trainer is they are there to remind you of what your ultimate goal is and how tremendous it will feel and affect every area of your life when you do. They are right about that.
Conclusion
A personal trainer can be a great help when improving your fitness and wellbeing.