We are told from a young age that quitters never win and winners never quit. Some of our most beloved stories in movies and books are about persisting through hardships to reach a goal.

We know it's important, yet with our fitness and weight loss plans, we often fail to finish what we started. In fact, we quit early or in mid-stream. It is almost like we never got started at all. Worst of all this chips away at our feeling of being in charge of our fitness outcomes. We than abjure from taking on additional fitness challenges which might benefit us. I mean if programs haven't worked before, why would we think they would work in the future?

Welcome to the sad purlieu of the truly hopeless when it comes to fitness. I don't say all this to be depressing, but to reinforce the negative consequences of these failures to finish.

What We Need Is To Understand What Is Happening To Cause This And Some Strategies To Prevent It

It is a truism with exercise that the source of the failures lie not with the program, but with ourselves. I say truism, because some programs are simply not a good fit for who we are. That's a topic worth it's own series of articles. Suffice to say when that happens, it is really no one's fault.

Actually though, most failures actually are about us and our mental approach. Let's deal with those issues now.

Why We Quit Before Reaching Our Fitness Goals

1. The idea of structure isn't something we find either fun or enticing. In fact, we find it scary, especially if the work is hard. We have all heard about the P90X revolution. We have all seen the infomercials. Some of what you see on there is enticing if you are out of shape. That's the power of marketing. Yet you have many who buy the product and don't come anywhere near finishing. Many more than the number of people who actually have finished.

I have said frequently that structure is highly valuable in achieving beneficial change through exercise. So if we don't like structure, where does that leave us? I say you need to mentally place the burden on the program to deliver to you some fast results. Try a structured home or gym workout program and if you aren't seeing tangible changes in 14 days or less, send it back. No exceptions. At the very least this policy keeps us from blaming ourselves.

2. Some people aren't athletically inclined. I have relatives who were never athletes and as they aged, they fell deeply out of shape because they didn't have a proclivity towards movement. This aptly describes many people. This doesn't mean they won't be able to get as fit as they desire. It does mean they first need to understand the spectrum of fitness and how one level builds on the next.

Basics are important before you start taking on "extreme" workout programs. Eat correctly and find a system you can stick to. At the same time be more active generally by doing little things. My suggestions are walking more (park further away from the super market front door is an idea), try a little running and increase your distance each time out, or maybe do some push ups. Don't go too hard! Remember if you've always done nothing, something is huge improvement. What we are trying to do is build up our foundation of fitness to take on more structured programs in the future.

3. They expect too much from their participation in a structured program. I know this seems like it contradicts point one above about demanding results early on in a program. The problem of expecting too much is more about us failing to think long-term with exercise. There is no denying that you should be prepared to push play on the DVD players on days when you probably don't feel like it. This is true even if the program is full of variety and fun.

Well this level of commitment to finish can makes us feel entitled to super charged results at the end of 60, 90, or 180 days. This isn't how fitnees works. Your desired body is likely further away than those time frames. Instead, think in terms of the longer it takes to get there, the longer you get to enjoy it. Plus there is no "there". There is a journey and it gets so much easier after the first 90 days. The reason is you now have the athletic foundation that will carry you for years ahead. It will take less time to get better results because you did the harder work initially.