The Tribune

By ETHAN QUANT

Health Coach

I remember when starting out on my health and fitness journey, my goals might not be what you would have imagined. It wasn’t about losing 110 pounds or being able to run a six-minute mile. I didn’t want to reduce my risk of high blood pressure and diabetes. Truthfully, all I wanted was a six-pack. The foundation of my journey was built on sheer vanity.

One may wonder: “How does having a nice set of abs trump hypertension and diabetes?” When your sole goal is to impress the ladies, you aren’t necessarily lending any deep thought to all of the more important benefits to living a healthy life.

The few people I shared my reasons with gave me mixed responses. However, almost all of them laughed. The general consensus was that my motives were not good enough to want to get healthy. Meanwhile, I could have cared less about getting healthy. I was only interested in enhancing my physique.

Needless to say, I quickly learned that your body is a reflection of your lifestyle. So If I wanted to get that six-pack, I had to be doing the things every day that people with six-packs did. Certainly, my regimen had to become consistent with eating right and exercising daily. Ironically, as I committed my entire existence to this one “silly” idea of getting a six-pack, my “why” expanded as I became aware of some of the other benefits of getting healthy and fit. Although my desire to shed stomach fat and replace it with a toned abdomen was my initial motivation to get in shape, it opened me up to other benefits as well.

That being said, I want to talk about your “why”. These are just a couple of things I want you to consider when determining your “why”:

There is no wrong reason to want to get healthy and fit. As a health and lifestyle coach, I have heard all sorts of reasons for people wanting to get healthy and fit. Some of the reasons clients have shared with me range from wanting to reduce their risk of getting cancer or heart disease, to wanting to win over an ex who had issues with their weight. Others just wanted to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath. Whatever inspires you or gives you that impetus to get started is good. Just run with it!

It should make you feel good and excited. When I thought of getting my six-pack and all the wonderful and awesome things I would do with ‘abs of steel’, I got this really cool, bubbly feeling in my stomach. Honestly, a smile would automatically appear on my face. I got excited at the thought of my new life with my dream body. I imagined different scenarios and new levels of social interaction: “Hi, my name is Ethan Quant and this is my six-pack!” I know it may sound silly, but that was my truth. I really wanted my six-pack.

Your “why” needs to be strong enough to get you up and going even when you don’t feel like it. The thing is that there were days when I didn’t feel like working out or following my meal plan. But then I would evaluate how neglecting my responsibilities would inhibit me getting my six-pack. It didn’t take much consideration before I would drag myself out of bed and into the gym for a vigorous ab workout.Your “why” is just that – yours. Therefore, you don’t need approval or permission from anyone to see if your “why” is good enough. Once it’s good enough for you that’s all that matters. Because the truth is that the reason you get started is not going to be as important once you remain committed to the goal. As long as you remain dedicated to the journey you will discover a lot of other reasons why you want to stay healthy and fit.

If you would like help navigating any part of your health, wellness and fitness process, you can contact Ethan Quant at ethan@elite-wellnesssolutions.com or on Instagram at @ethanquant.