Competition

My interest as a personal trainer was sparked the day I found out I was the 1st runner up in the Body-For-Life Competition in 2003. I knew that day, God was telling me to go and help many people do exactly what I just did! To be selected in this national body transformation challenge as one of the champions was a real honor. However, it wasn't an easy process, and I am honestly glad that it wasn't.
Competition is a way to really help you become the true best you that God intends for you to become! You understand? :) When there is an event to strive for, instead of just trying to get into shape for the sake of helping your health, many people tend to try much harder and focus on the event and doing their best instead of how they feel at the moment. When you know that your time is limited, and you want to do your best for this event, you may be more apt to overlook the 5 hours of sleep you had the night before and push yourself hard anyway. If you, like many people who tend to fail at their weight loss efforts, find that you get worn out from the thought of having to exercise 5-6 days each week to get in good shape and feel healthy, than an event or competition may be what you are looking for.
There are lots of events and competitions you can consider: running, swimming, biking, or all 3 together (tri-athalons), weight lifting, other sports, bodybuilding competitions and body transformation challenges (like the one I did). Depending on your interest, you can find a niche to help keep your drive up and focus on your overall goal.
A body transformation challenge, like the one I did can offer a lot of incentive to do exactly what most people want to do, change their bodies! I completed the Body-For-Life challenge which is an annual competition that is held by Body-For-Life corp. You can find out more information by going to http://www.bodyforlife.com/ and researching their challenge information. It's a 12 week challenge that focuses on taking your body from out of shape to in-shape. During this time period, it helps to focus as hard as you can on doing what's "right" for your body so that you can get yourself into peak condition. Your results are based on pictures that you take of yourself as "before" and "after" photos. If you are selected as one of the champions, you could win $25,000. It's a nice incentive to do what we all pretty much know we should do anyway.
These events/competitions can really help people stay on track with their goals. Once the event is over, maintaining the results you achieved is not as difficult as getting there. However, this does not mean you have the freedom to go back to your old habits and expect your body to stay where it is! It does take some time to acquaint your body to it's new self and what it is able to tolerate. Usually, if you needed to exercise 5-6 days each week and consume 1200 calories to lose weight, you may only need to exercise 3-4 days each week and consume 1600 calories to maintain where you are. Doing no exercise however is a recipe for rebound!

Competitions can really help you become the best you that you can be! Look for events/competitions that you enjoy and will help you stay focused on your overall goals. If you have any questions about body transformation competitions, please let me know.

"I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I challenge you to put me to the test." Malachi 3:9 (CEV)