Fat Loss and Fitness: Who's on your team?

There's a saying "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with".
I read it in reference to financial success - the idea being that if you associated mostly with wealthy people, you were much more likely to be wealthy yourself.

I think it works with physical fitness as well. If your family, friends and workmates are living on crappy food, spending their leisure time drinking, smoking and generally living an inactive, unhealthy life, then it stands to reason that you are probably doing the same thing.

And how hard do you think it would be to make a change to a healthy diet and regular exercise, when these same people are constantly tempting you to give up and return to the status quo?

If your inner circle are not the type of people that provide a positive environment, you must consider finding other people to associate with. It's about doing things that fit people do - with other fit people. There's plenty of options. For starters, group exercise programs are a great way to get involved. Fitness classes at your local gym, touch rugby over the summer, running groups, tennis, yoga, dance classes.

At CrossFit NZ we get results because we do the right exercise, the right way. But for the majority of our clients, their results are mainly attributed to the social environment of our group workouts. We've got people who have never exercised properly before, banging out pullups, bodyweight deadlifts, swinging kettlebells and getting in great shape. And they do it while giving and recieving a ton of support to and from the group.

Now you don't have to disown your family and dump all your friends, but if they are not interested in helping you get fitter, leaner and healthier, it's up to you to search out an alternative. Who knows, once you start getting in shape, you may influence your 5 people to do the same!