I spent the weekend in the presence of friends old and new at an archery tournament in Belgium.

There is something quite pleasant about going to a tournament with zero pressure to perform, other than within you to keep yourself happy… and perform (to a certain degree I did) 3rd place wasn’t all that bad.

Tim Goodwin Luxembourg Fitness Professional, 3rd place Le Hardy

Anyway, I spent a lot of the weekend talking to people about health and fitness, as I regularly find myself being drawn in to  over dinner, lunch, breakfast, snacks… pretty much any time! It seems that because I am a fitness professional, people are constantly curious about how and why I eat and drink what I do. Also how and why I exercise the way I do to.

Most of the time people are surprised by my response, as they seem to expect this monk like figure to tell them to abstain from the evils of all that we have been told which are evil.

In fact, when i am at an archery tournament, my nutrition sucks. You’re just as likely to find me stuffing my face with a piece of cake as the next guy… the difference being I look NOTHING like the next guy.

This weekends shoot is yet another example of why we should be fitter to participate in our sport, regardless of whether it is archery, golf, soccer, badminton or tiddly winks… The fitter and stronger you are the more likely it is you are going to beat the next guy.

I may not be the best archer on the field, although I beat a lot of guys who are technically more proficient than me. This weekend the course was really VERY long. I think we probably walked about 10km over the course of the weekend, in hot and humid conditions too. However, at the end of the 2nd day I was fresh and fit enough to keep performing if I had too!

My philosophy of being fit, is not about being dedicated to the steel in the gym, it is not pounding the miles wearing through 6 pairs of trainers a year, it is not sticking rigidly to a perfectly clean diet 100% of the time.

The approach I have is very simple, good health and fitness is PART of my life, not a strict regimeI do for a few weeks or months… I train because I enjoy it, I do it as PART of my life, I choose to be more active. I pick up some weights to hone my body from time to time… I go to the forest to do some sprint intervals to clear my head, I go out on my mountain bike because I just love the feeling of absolute freedom to everything else in my life… I eat healthy MOST of the time, but enjoy the pleasures of good food responsibly, but equally enjoy the feeling of eating foods that make my body work better.

I am not sure if I have got my point across here, but health and fitness is a lifestyle choice that I enjoy, it is not a regime, something to get stressed or up tight about.

I keep being reminded of the Yoda quote… “Do or do not, there is no try”

yoda quote, Do or Do not

TRYING to live a healthy lifestyle is too much like hard work… Choose to eat better and exercise better, because it can be enjoyable, it can be fun….. NIKE