A New Year, A New Perspective.

With the New Year on the horizon, the season of fad diets and quick fixes will soon be upon us. We have all been guilty of jumping into the newest workouts and latest diet to rapidly meet our resolutions. If you are old enough you have tried this same routine year after year, failing over and over again. Will we ever stop chasing this hunt for an effective quick fix?

Our life has become so focused on instant gratification that we often reach for the latest cleanse over carving out regular time to sweat and focus on our over-all health and well being. This is really our greatest detriment to ourselves - putting our health last - and doing quick unfocused workouts just to get them done. How many times do we listen to music while riding the elliptical machine, never once thinking about our core, our stride, our shoulders, or how we feel overall. We don’t focus on the signals our bodies are trying to sending us. What if this year we learned to pay attention to ourselves, and take time to give our body the nourishment and time it needs to make slow and steady changes? 

In this industry, I have found that in order to find true health, consistency is key. Daily workouts and healthy eating habits are crucial to success. My healthiest clients have never hit their goals with a fad-anything.Those quick-fix “solutions” never produce results and end up being a waste of our valuable time and energy. True strength, stability and stamina can only be achieved through good nutrition and regular exercise. 

This is where Pilates comes in. Joe knew that good health can not be achieved overnight; it requires regular practice and intense focus. He created a system of physical and mental conditioning where each component reinforces and builds upon the next, creating a whole practice that is greater than the sum of its parts. Though we may practice the same series of exercises again and again in Classical Pilates, each time are we building upon what we have already achieved, adding in new layers of focus and attention that make the exercises seem brand new. With the Pilates system we develop a solid foundation and then grow from that stable source. In this we find the key to creating changes that are long-lasting. 

What is your fitness goal this upcoming year? Is it to get into another mindless routine and diet that seems to make your more focused on what you are lacking versus how great you feel? What if this year we decided to let our body be the judge of what is healthy? What if we made a commitment to be patient, work consistently to learn all the idiosyncrasies that lie within each of our unique body types, and pay attention to how we feel, using that as our guide of what is good for us? I am over the old fads. 

Joseph Pilates said “Patience and persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavor.” Let’s choose this year to slow down and focus on creating real well-being. Let’s choose to be persistent in maintaining those healthy practices. In time you will marvel at how those gradual but lasting changes have reshaped your life!  Cheers, and Happy Holidays. 

With Grace,

Alix Schaubhut