Parlez-vous francais?

How long does it take to get in shape?

I usually say one year, but this depresses people for some reason and they walk away dejected.  Don't I know summer is only 10 weeks away?

Getting, and staying, in shape involves much more than journaling 2200 calories-a-day, pounding 45 minutes at 6.0 on the treadmill and shimmying back into size 6 jeans.  Being in shape calls us to examine how we move, what and why we eat, the way we relate, and all our motives for doing so.  

There is heart work to be done as well as hard work.

How can you get really mature and complete in anything in less than a year? It's silly to expect, and yet we are always surprised when we fail.....again.  


A year builds in failure.  It expects it.  And failure is the best teacher of all. 

Want to learn how to play piano? 

At the minimum, a year of committed practice is required; slogging through scales, learning to read music, fumbling along with right hand while keeping up with the left, trying to make it all come together.  It also helps to have a really good instructor!

Want to learn French? 

At the minimum, a year of focused practice is needed, preferably in France! Tough new vocabulary and grammar is required, most people over the age of 12 won't "pick up French" without immense attention and effort!

Why do we expect faster results with our fitness maturity? 


Our bodies and minds are more complex than pianos and more intricate than a foreign language. 


It takes a year of committed practice to fitness and nutrition to develop skill and growth. It can take many years to develop a level of fitness that is skilled and comes together. 

Healthy, mature fitness, or being in shape, takes time.  This rubs the culture the wrong way, I know.  Maybe you too?

We have had some new athletes jump into AAA workouts this month. After settling with fear and trembling into their new way of life (early mornings, lots of practice, different mindset, sore bodies), they already are beginning to look and move differently. 

Now, steady perseverance through the year is required, and it is the toughest part.


L'échec est le meilleur professeur!