The Most Important Ingredient for a Lifelong Lean Body

If you didn’t see last week’s article, take a quick look. It will help make the rest of this week’s article much more valuable and informative.

The answer to the question posed in that piece is…Barry!

But let’s take a step back, because it’s possible that any of the three people profiled could be the most successful. The ingredient that has the biggest influence on whether or not a person reaches and maintains a fit, lean, healthy body composition (fat-to-lean ratio) is self-identification.

Let me explain. When you think about what motivates people to behave in a certain way, especially in a consistent, repetitive pattern, and, even more so, to fine tune and perfect their efforts over years and decades, it always comes down to how they view themselves relative to the results that behavior produces. Student, musical virtuoso, parent, competitive athlete, caregiver, meditator, gambler, executive, nature buff or any of a countless array of identities one aligns one’s self image with is going to inform and instigate the behavior that creates that role.

Our first subject, Andrea, currently identifies strongly with the role of a lean, fit model of athleticism. But there’s a limited shelf life for a fitness competitor and, because of the demands of the sport, the condition (extremely muscular with extremely low body fat) is almost impossible to maintain between events. Those two qualities often result in fairly broad swings between events and after competition days come to a close – but not always. Many shift to becoming trainers, teaching a less extreme and more balanced version of the lifestyle. At that point, they have integrated into their identity a deeper, less externally focused catalyst for adopting a life-long, sustainable and reasonable set of habits.

Collette is older when she invests her time, money and energy into the lean, healthful lifestyle. But at present, the end goal of looking a certain way to impress her high school friends is a tenuous source of motivation that’s likely to become irrelevant after the reunion, or perhaps, even before it happens. For Collette to achieve and maintain lifelong lean, healthy habits, her “why” will have to transition to her self-image being an extension of an intrinsic sense of worth. That self-image will have to correspond with a quality of life model that includes physical vitality, and the aesthetics of a flatter abdomen will be secondary.

That’s the profile of Barry, and it has been so for many years. He’s less concerned with how he’s viewed by others and more intent on making his experience as fulfilling as possible. And so it is, which further strengthens that sense of identity.

The details of any fitness or eating program are far less important in the mix of that elusive success cocktail than the degree to which you identify as a person who lives a healthy lifestyle for all the benefits you enjoy outside the view of anyone else.

And when that’s your mental condition, conditioning your body, and maintaining it for life, is a whole lot easier.

Dan Taylor, ACE, NASM-CPT, is owner and head trainer at Pleasanton-based Tri Valley Trainer. They provide personal training and small group fitness solutions at their studio, a free Facebook group for living a lean lifestyle for non-cooks with chaotic schedules, and a premium, innovative, medically endorsed web-based group healthy eating coaching program.