Life Beyond Fife

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Stress
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Stress

Stress has a negative image. It's generally seen as a bad thing and something to be avoided, but stress is how we improve. The first time we try something completely new, we cannot expect to be good or even competent, yet that act of starting is the first step toward becoming an expert. The two key decisions to consider are what level you start at and the pace of your progression. Starting something new should begin at the bottom, the entry level, the easiest. If all signs point toward this being manageable, then increase the difficulty. Taking smalls steps and...

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Training

Exercise is running round the block for five minutes. Training is structured exercise that is done deliberately, in a structured manner as part of a wider schedule to achieve a specific goal. Don't trust the result of exercise - it's unpredictable and unreliable. By contrast, training is something you can count on. What training is not, is a hired PT shouting at you, "C'mon just 5 more, 4... 3... c'mon you got this, 2... one more, don't quit!" Your body is failing you. You cannot remember such pain and exhaustion. The cheering on from this expensive expert encourages you not...

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Measure the right thing

It's very easy to begin something with the best of intentions and say things like, "Every little helps." or "It can't do any harm." without knowing if your efforts are having any effect whatsoever. Everyone is different and wants different things from fitness (we'll cover the types of fitness in detail later) but one thing is constant throughout your new journey. If you don't measure the right thing, you cannot know if you're making progress or not. Just as important as measuring the right thing, is measuring consistently. Just as important as measuring consistently is recording and interpreting the results...

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Question everything

If you're still reading I've hopefully convinced you, or at least you're open to the idea, of learning higher level concepts before making permanent lifestyle changes to become fitter. And you're happy to listen to my ideas of what those concepts and lessons should be. Thanks. I'm flattered. More likely though is that you remain curious and yet to be convinced. That's perfect, and that's exactly the skeptical mindset you need to retain. Never lose your questioning, suspicious, doubting way of looking at new information that is given to you. There are a few good reasons for this: 1. I'm...

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Sacrifice and Results
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Sacrifice and Results

Before going any further with the mystic change-for-life-fitness plan I'm proposing, we need to calibrate ourselves on a couple of points to avoid the disappointment of mismatched expectations. When I say that personal trainers, badly equipped gyms, shaming magazines, and processed diet foods have different goals to you; that they're out to keep you dependent on them rather than enabling you to get fit without them, that's my view based on the way I see the world. It doesn't mean that millions of people haven't achieved their goals using the above tools, and done so quicker than trying to plot...

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Change for life

Banks will often advertise promotions offering sizeable sums of money for opening an account. There are all sorts of conditions like, a minimum amount of money to be deposited each month, and keeping the account open for a certain number of months. How is this profitable though? It's profitable because changing banks is something that most of us never do. This isn't the only activity seldom considered e.g. when was the last time you changed your brand of toothpaste? There are certain things we're quite happy to try for a while and there are choices we made long ago and...

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