Bodybuilding and Everyday Life: How to Make Them a Perfect Match
Are you disciplined, highly motivated, and determined to achieve your training goals? Do you eat according to a strict nutrition schedule? Do you enjoy going places with your friends every now and then? Then you might get annoyed with remarks such as, “Don’t be silly and have a drink with us” or “Come on, have a burger.” And should someone have the nerve to add, “So and so does it too – and he/she has an awesome body!” – you are pretty much ready to explode, right? Let’s be honest, for non-bodybuilders we are an exotic breed, far removed from the mainstream. Whoever has a body that deviates from the norm will encounter a variety of reactions – including prejudices. Complications are virtually unavoidable. When integrating your fitness lifestyle into your everyday life, your social environment often presents the biggest challenge. Friends and acquaintances who don’t follow fitness regimes often fail to understand your dedication – especially the discipline you practice to be successful. Rest assured, you are not alone! With a few tricks up your sleeve, you can continue your clean eating and training, while remaining an active member of society without too much friction. We list a few basics.
Talk About It!
Communication is half the battle! Understanding and respect is the other half. If your friends don’t know exactly why you do things differently, they have no chance of understanding it either. Talk to your friends about your daily challenges, your workout and your specific nutrition plan. But be careful not to overdo it. Perhaps they find the complex interplay of components interesting or even inspiring, admiring your dedication and discipline. Before you know it, you might even end up someone’s role model. However, it is just as possible that they are not interested in the details at all. Respect the fact that, even though bodybuilding brings you fulfilment, this does not necessarily apply to everyone else. Whoever is interested will come to you with their questions.
Respect is More Important Than Understanding!
Whether they have a personal interest in fitness or not, real friends accept you exactly as you are and support you to the best of their ability to reach your goals – even when it just means keeping their remarks to themselves. As long as there is a sense of mutual understanding, some friendly teasing is really nothing to object to, right? Just make sure you have a good comeback or show that you are able to laugh at yourself! A relaxed attitude is beneficial for your friendships, as well as your blood pressure. Not everyone has to fully understand why you love your bodybuilding lifestyle, competitive sports, and everything else that goes with it. What counts is that you have reciprocal respect for each other. Keep that in mind whenever a friend asks you how you are doing. When in doubt, he or she is probably not asking about the newest developments in your training session – or anything related to that.
Careful Preparation for More Quality Time
A good way to save time on cooking is meal prep, enabling you to spend more time on training or quality time with your family and friends. There is not much else to this foodie trend than good old pre-cooking. This simple and efficient trick allows you to keep your diet flexible and gives you some space for spontaneity. Your partner wants to spend the day in the park? No problem. Your friends want to meet at the cinema? Of course, provided that it fits into your training cycle – your friends are open-minded, after all. Just bring the food you need with you. Eat where and when you want – whether at work, while travelling, or at the gym. With your nutritional routine and preparation in place, you can concentrate on what really counts: family, friends, and your training goals!
A Final Tip
Achieving fitness success feels great, but it’s not absolutely everything, so don’t get overly fanatic with it. Focus on progress rather than perfection in your training and give yourself some leeway every now and then. As long as you stay disciplined and keep your eyes on the goal, you can generally get away with “just” 90 per cent clean eating – without obsessive calculating or weighing. Perhaps you feel that’s a little controversial, but it is worth considering anyway. After all, being a little more relaxed will enrich both your bodybuilding and everyday life.