How Deep is the Water?

How Deep is the Water?

You don’t know until you start swimming.

None of us enjoy the “unknown,” particularly when it comes to health and wellness…

We like to have a plan, prefer to know how hard it will be, and certainly want some assurance with the outcome…

Fitness and life (especially initially) just don’t work that way, but for different reasons…

Life is unpredictable based on so many interactions and experiences that are out of our control… Each day brings new opportunities, but many of our choices are dependent on variables that we have no say over… It can be frustrating, but it also comes with the territory, and we learn to manage our choices over time with experience…

Fitness has some similarities, as each day does bring new opportunities, but we have much more influence over our initial success than other endeavors…

Why?

We discover that there are levels to health + wellness, and that the depth continues as far as we are willing to chase it…

Want to improve your nutrition?Pick your first steps >>>

• Is it cooking all of your meals / not eating out?

• Is it building your meals around protein?

• Is it building your meals around recipes?

• Is it measuring portion size?

• Is it not eating after a certain hour?

These are all valid “first steps” for many people, and it only gets “deeper” from there…

…and that’s where the fear, for many, begins.

They think they “don’t know” (none of us have all the answers).

They worry about step five while on step one (be where you are is always good advice).

They panic before building “process,” even when structure from a plan can eliminate many obstacles.

We have four pillars that we ask our people (adults + athletes) to think about investing in when it comes to their health + wellness:

• Training: In the gym, on the road, their sport, hobby, passion, etc.

• Exercise: Gym, sport, hobbies, fitness activities

• Nutrition: What you eat, and how it all works together*

• Recovery: Sleep, sauna, Normatec, pool, dietary structure, etc.

• Stress Management: Planned events/opportunities to rebuild + reset

All of the above are significant in your overall health and are as simple or deeply complex as you can function with successfully…

For the record, we (IPF) overwhelmingly recommend that you start simple.

Do “less” before you add more…

Taking things off your plate and focusing more intently on fewer items typically yields measurable improvements.

It doesn’t make you any less of a person, athlete, or human. In fact, simplification should be more commonly linked with self-awareness than anything else.

The concept of “doing better before doing more” is based on demonstration of capability (a theory I love), as in life, your reward for doing well is often to be asked to do more (promotion, responsibilities, leadership, time, energy, etc.).

The best answer before things get “deep”?

Start simple.

Identify what is important to you (health should always be important).

Construct a plan to enhance + improve what is important.

Do the work.

Learn and ask for more information that can help you do it better…

There will always be moments to learn as you go forth in life, but those moments are based in action.

If you are taking action, you have started your process of better.

Keep it simple, add as little as necessary to improve, and keep learning.

Don’t get beat by information overload because it keeps many people where they are.

I know people love “Keep It Simple, Stupid > KISS,” and the premise is spot-on…

But with more information available than ever before, and no one to curate it for you, you aren’t stupid…you’re overwhelmed.

Take a breath, take a beat, and get to work!