Fit For Life: Be Obsessive!! It’s a Good Thing

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

For years I have been hearing people say “you’re too obsessive when it comes to fitness”, or “you’re too obsessive when you order food or about the way you eat” or “you need to relax and live a little” or “you’re too competitive". Well I am now 46 years old, and I am in the best shape of my life, and not only do I feel great, but I do my blood work every year, and the results are always far above “average”. Am I really obsessive? Hell yes! Am I going to continue to be obsessive about everything I do that’s important to me? MOST DEFINITELY!

Many people think of obsessions as something bad, unhealthy, or problematic. In my opinion, if you aren’t obsessive about the things you do, you are only going to do things half way, and will never reach your full potential. That’s fine if you want to be average at what you do; but being average isn’t in my play book.

If NASA wasn’t obsessive, would we have put a man on the moon? If Tom Brady wasn’t obsessive, would he go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time? If Barack Obama wasn’t driven by obsession, would he have become the first black president? If Thomas Edison didn’t obsess about inventing things, would he have been successful ? And if Steve Jobs wasn’t obsessive, would Apple be where it is today? NO, NO, NO, and NO! And let me give you a little news flash: If you are not obsessive about the things that are important to you in your life, success will elude you on every level. Whether it be fitness, finances, or family matters, if you don’t have obsession, passion, and drive you will either fail, or become mediocre, or average at best.

Will you accept being average?

We live in a world where people accept being average. But where does this get us? High unemployment, high obesity rate, record levels of poverty, poor education among our population, and people looking for the easy way out. Lack of obsession and drive is what has caused these things, not bad luck, foul weather or the government. It’s the lack of drive, discipline and desire to better one’s self, or lack of obsession that causes us to be lazy and not accomplish things. Still think being obsessive is a bad thing? I think it is necessary to succeed.

My newest obsession is to build my new business to the highest level possible. I want to reach the point where I dominate the fitness industry in our state. I want to have so many fitness and fat loss success stories, that when you hear fitness, health, get in shape, great workout programs and results are mentioned - Matt Espeut, and Providence Fit Body Bootcamp come to mind. And I am on my way. I listen and read self help, personal growth, and success books when I can. I fly coast to coast and attend seminars, and conferences hosted by the best in the business, so I can be with like minded people and learn from them. I work day and night to bring my clients the best services and programs I can, and to generate new clients to help. I am thinking every hour I am awake on how to improve and grow, and I don’t plan on stopping until my mission is done. And I believe without obsession, it wouldn’t be happening!

Let’s obsess together.

So there you have it people. Take it for what it is. Want to get in shape, be obsessive about it. You won’t get fit and healthy exercising one day a week, and eating healthy - sometimes. You won’t get promoted, by going to work and working hard - once in a while. You won’t become a scratch golfer if you only play a few times a season, and you won’t be a good parent if you only pay attention to your kids - sometimes. So stop shedding a negative image on people that have a vision, work hard, and focus on succeeding, instead get your butt of the sofa and come on down to my gym, and lets obsess together about making you fit and healthy.

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one!"

Related Slideshow: The 7 Best Health and Fitness Apps

Here is a list of some of the most obsession worthy health apps.

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MapMyRun

MapMyRun is the number one selling running app for a reason: it is easy to use, offers community support if you want it, and tracks and stores your exact routes for you. If you are training for a race or a serious runner, users say that the extra perks in the upgraded paid version are well worth it.

Made for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

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MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal seems to be the clear favorite amongst everyone polled. It is helpful not only for the fitness tracking aspect, but everyone polled mentioned how much they loved the food/diet aspect as well. From carb counting for diabetics to recipe ideas to complement your fitness goals, users love this app.

Made for iPhone and Android

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JeFit

JeFit is another fitness app that has rave reviews. It not only tracks progress for you, but offers a huge database of workouts. While many apps offer community support, JeFit allows you to sync workouts with friends who use the app, offering a (real) virtual buddy system.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Strava

Strava gets the highest mark of all the cycling apps. While it is also great for runners, the cyclers seem particularly inclined towards the fierce competition that can be ignited by this app. You can track all of your rides via GPS, then you can compare your efforts to those logged by others in the community on the same stretch of road. You can also join ongoing challenges that can net you great prizes (in addition to bragging rights).

Made for iPhone and Android

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YogaStudio

YogaStudio gets the top vote for Yoga apps. It has a lengthy collection of full class-length videos available at your fingertips. Unlike many other apps, this one also allows you to customize your own video yoga class. All of the poses are done by qualified yoga instructors, and you can find classes suitable for all levels of yogis.

Made for iPhone only

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SimplyBeing

SimplyBeing meditation app offers the best of both worlds. You can choose to run this app as a background for your meditation with soothing music or natural sounds that run for a set amount of time. Conversely, for those of you who have trouble focusing during meditation, you can choose a soothing voice-guided meditation.

Made for iPhone and Android

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Fooducate

Fooducate is an app all about educating people so that they make healthier food choices. Although not perfect, this app is easy to use (you can even take pictures of bar codes to instantly find foods in their database). It gives food a letter grade, tells you the pluses and minuses, and gives you better ranked alternatives. You can also use it as a weight loss tool by tracking your daily calories.

Made for iPhone and Android