I read a Nerd Fitness article  and I learned good stuff.

This has been scientifically proven that we look like the 5 friends we see most often. Think about your 5 best friends :

• Are they successful ?

• Are they happy ?

• Are they healthy ?

• Do they to exercices ?

When you see a friend’s group, they all have about the same state of mind. When a person of this group want to change, it becomes complicated. Once case that has all happened to us is that on the day we decided to work to be healthy, we were the only person in the group to do it.

And when you’re the only person who want to have a better health, it happens :

• You decrease your consumption of sugar => your friends complain that you’re in a good physical condition and force you to go eat in a fast-food

• You go to train at lunch => your classmates or co-workers make fun of you because you’re weird and force you to go eat at the best restaurant in the town.

• You have a new pullup record => your friends complain that you didn’t come to the bar after school/work.

Don’t worry, these situations also happen to me. It’s hard to reach its goals when people around you want you stay like them. But be healthy is one of the best goal in the world and you aren’t the only person to know this pressure.

This is the moment, yes, it’s the moment to meet people who want to be healthy. Be surrounded by people who are healthier, stronger and faster than you is extremely motivating.

How to find people in shape

Here are some tips :

• Google

  Do a search like : « your activity + your town » and see results. It’s easy and effective. You want to do Tai-Chi, Taekwondo or badminton, you’ll find about 20 clubs in your town.

• MeetUp

  It’s really cool. Do a search of your activity within 4-8km (3-5miles) of your town. You’ll find about twenty clubs. In 5 minutes, you subscribe on MeetUp.com  and you find 20 interesting clubs, easy !

• Ask a person who is in a good shape that you see regulary

  This can be a classmate or a co-workers or on Facebook. You can start the conversation with : «  Hey, you’re in shape, what’s your secret ? ». This person will tell you his/her sport and his/her days of training.

  You need to do a training session with this person, even if you don’t like his/her sport. Imagine that during the training session you meet a person who share the same interests as you. You would never have met this person if you hadn’t done this new sport, right ? In the beginning, it’s important to say « yes » to have new contacts.

• Think different

  Don’t be afraid to think differently to do different activities. There are clubs of soccer, dance, ice-hockey, yoga, etc. Chose something that interests you and give a try. If it’s an activity you’ve never done before, it’s even better. How can you know if you like something if you have never tried ? This is exploring, adventure.

Say « YES »

It’s important to say « yes » to everything when you do a new activity. Let’s me explain, all these activites have events with social media. Say « yes » to participate to these events to meet more people and have new opportunities or discover a new activity that is implanted in.

Now, I’ll tell you the truth. It’s important to say « yes » more often than « no » if you want that people continue to offer you new activities.

Imagie that you offer regularly to 2 of your friends to do new activities. Your 2 friends always answer the same thing and that’s it :

• Friend A : « Ooooh no, I can’t today. I have a lot of things to do. Maybe another time ».

• Friend B : « Mmmmmmmh, what is that ? Ok, we go there together of we find ourselves there ? »

After a while you’ll not propose anything to Friend A and you’ll only talk to Friend B. So for yourself, you want to be the Friend A or the Friend B ?

Go to a MeetUp alone

When you go to a MeetUp arrange you to go with somebody to stay motivated. But be careful, this often prenvents us from having new contacts. If it’s not possible, you need to be prepared to go to a MeetUp alone.

If you don’t usually go to events on your own, there are skills you can learn like confidence and social interaction.

Here a plan to have new conctacts during a MeetUp :

• Smile

  This is the most crucial thing. Who like to talk to a scared person and who has a closed face ?

• Don’t look for another person alone

  It’s easier to talk to a person alone than a group but there is a trap. This person is like you and is to shy to talk to someone else and you’ll spend the rest of the time to talk together in a corner without meeting anyone.

• Make eye contact, give them a firm handshake and introduce yourself

• Ask «  Are you here for the _______________ MeetUp ? »

  Continue the conversation with : «  Ok, cool. I signed up yesterday and I didn’t know what to expect ».

• Ase open questions

  « What brought you here ? » or « Where are good places to do this activity in the city ? » or « Why did you start this activity ? »

• If the conversation starts to be annoying

  Ends the conversation with : « Great to meet you. I’m gonna run to the bathroom/grab a dring ». You do the thing you said and you go to the another group.

Note

In a Meetup, you’re surrounded by people who want to meet people. Don’t do the anti-social and profit to have new contacts. Here a video  and an article  of Ramit Sethi to help to improve social skills.

Proactive

It’s not with magic or thniking very strongly (Mmmmh, The Secret ?!?) that you’re going to have new activites or meet new people in shape. It’s for this reason you need to do the first step because they are not going to come to seek you, it’s up to you to be the hunter.

It’s worth looking for them because they’ll help you reach your goals, encourage you to be healthier, be stronger and be faster.

Then goes hunting for people in shape

How it went when you joined a new club or met new friends when you decided to be healthier ?

-Steph

P.S. Do you want a platform with free training programs ? Click here 

Smartphone apps :

To track my calories, I use MyFitnessPal 

To track my training program, I use Jefit