Friends and Fitness - Social Support for Fitness Success

Friends and Fitness – Are You Under the Influence?

In financial services circles, there is a commonly quoted idea that any person’s financial net worth today is the average of their ten closest friends. The theory behind this statement is that the people who you spend most of your time with heavily influence your habits and expectation level of whatyou think is possible when it comes to lifestyle and money. As a fitness professional, I have observed that the same can be said for level of physical fitness and degree of leanness. Ladies who like to push their fitness to the next level and enjoy hardcore workouts usually don’t exercise with those who consider a walk in the neighborhood a workout. A lady who is in less than average shape who frequently hangs out with fitness models is sure to be inspired to take her physique to the next level as a result of their influence. Let’s face it, it is hard to be the lone ranger and champion of the health and fitness lifestyle when most of your time is spent with friends who would rather invite you to happy hour than join you for a round of hill sprints. It is hard to continue on the path of eating nutritionally balanced meals that support body transformation when every gathering you attend is laced with fatty foods and alcohol to spare.

What can a lady committed to transforming her body do to ensure her fitness success? Must she get rid of her current friends to pursue her dream? Absolutely not! She simply needs to add new friends. Having friends who have already accomplished, or are accomplishing, what you want in the arena of health and fitness expands your expectation level and helps increase your belief factor. Spending time with people who eat well, exercise often, and look and feel amazing helps you to believe that you can do the same. You’ll pick up helpful tips and strategies and be motivated to stay the course on your personal transformation. As you continue on your path, you may even inspire some of your friends who aren’t currently fitness minded to take the plunge and achieve a better body for themselves as well. Don’t be surprised however if your current friends aren’t instantly inspired or even have negative things to say about your dedication to your goal. Change can be scary and when you change it is sometimes threatening to those who are close to you. They may fear that they will lose your friendship or may be envious of your accomplishments as your success will now disprove any “nutrition and exercise just doesn’t work for regular people” justifications that they may have been using to explain away their lack of physical fitness. Stay your course, be patient with your friends as they adjust to your change but be willing to sever ties with anyone who blatantly tries to sabotage you as that is not the mark of a true friend.

Check out part one of my interview with two boot camp buddies – Missy and Tracy to find out how they supported each other to get amazing fitness results in one of our boot camp challenges.

Top Three Places to Meet Fitness Minded Friends

1. Great Shape Fit Club
Any lady who is ‘embracing the burn’ with us on a regular basis has body transformation on the brain and can be a great addition to your fitness friend circle.

2. Online Fitness Forums
You may be surprised how many fitness minded ladies you can find online and the amount of support you can gain from a cyber circle of friends. I actually met Dustie, yes our very own boot camp coach Dustie, on an online fitness forum years ago. We became workout partners and enjoyed Saturday morning bleacher workouts together and the rest is history.

3. Clubs or Organizations
Do you like to swim, bike, or run? Join an organization geared to that activity and you’ll be sure to have more fitness friends soon.

To get free body transformation resources including free fitness reports and a nutrition crash course, subscribe to the Great Shape Fit Club newsletter at www.GreatShapeFitClub.com .