I wish I could be fit...

You know that someone, or maybe it is you saying this. I wish I could get fit..... There's always a 'but'... Sometimes the '...but I don't know where to start'. Here's a tip for that...
(This occurred to me when someone asked me for advice for a demotivated friend. The guy who asked me was someone who found his motivation already in martial arts, but his friend is still quite far from that stage.)


'Our Subject'
A person with no special issues, just some overweight and not too much motivation. The desire to get fit is already there. The excess bodyfat bothering him, lowering self-esteem. Self-confidence messed up, he wishes to look better. And to feel better. Yet he has not made that physical step towards the change: you know, that simple step which is called 'turning up'.

Problem?
I'm not a psychologist, it can be many things. Don't know where to start maybe? Scared of committing for a long term? Or just no energy to stand up from the couch. On my Chemistry classes we learned about the 'activation energy': the energy you need to add for a chemical reaction to happen. You know that at the end your final balance is positive: you gain energy from the reaction overall, but for it to happen you need to input a little energy from your side. You'll feel much better after training but you need to add the energy to 'turn up'. 

Solution
I am not saying it is 'The Solution', but it is one possible solution. I am sure, 'Our Subject' is often bored, feels that there could be more 'fun' happening in his (her) life. Well, let's have a Week of Fun: a Week of Active Fun. 
For one week every day try a different sport or conditioning. After (or before) work dedicate an hour every day for moving: go swimming, boxing, kettlebells, (God forgive me) Zumba, weightlifting, squash, yoga. If you cannot find anything you like out of the 7 different activities, take a week off and do another week with 7 different sports. Until you find the one sport that is for you. You don't need to be good at it at the beginning, just feel the 'FLOW' while you are doing it. (Saturday 2PM is a good day to try kettlebells :) )

Once you found your sport, stay with it. 2 or 3 times a week to start with. Normally every type of movement is connected to a health system which includes nutrition and stress relief, etc. And once you get deeper and deeper in that sport, you'll eventually you get into the whole system and without forcing yourself, you will eat healthily, sleep more, de-stress, etc, etc: you'll end up fit and healthy. 

If you want to be motivated, you need to really-really like the type of movement you are doing. This happened to me and RKC/SFG kettlebells. Paleo/Warrior diet and Primal Move and FMS and Z-Health followed. 

What's the cost?
The worst thing that can happen is that you can tell your friend you had a really eventful week, and not just hanging out, watching TV or go to that same bar you always go to. You spent about as much money as on a night out: about £35-40 that week (if you go to 7 classes). And maybe you are a bit tired, well all the better, you'll sleep well at night. And you don't need to do it for any longer than a week: one hour of moving every day for a week has not killed anyone yet. It's Sunday today, so start next Monday (tomorrow).