Kathleen Trotter - Your Fittest Future Self Making Choices Today for a Happier, Healthier, Fitter Future You

Copyright Kathleen Trotter, 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purpose of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Cover image: Agnes Kiesz, Pure Studios
Printer: Friesens

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Trotter, Kathleen, author
Your fittest future self : making choices today for a happier, healthier,
fitter future you / Kathleen Trotter.

Includes bibliographical references.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-4597-4128-7 (softcover).--ISBN 978-1-4597-4129-4 (PDF).-
ISBN 978-1-4597-4130-0 (EPUB)

1. Health. 2. Diet. 3. Exercise. 4. Physical fitness. I. Title.

1 2 3 4 5 22 21 20 19 18

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country, and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Ontario, through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. Lan dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de lart dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President

The publisher is not responsible for websites or their content unless they are owned by the publisher.

Printed and bound in Canada.

VISIT US AT

dundurn.com

@dundurnpress

dundurnpress

dundurnpress

Dundurn
3 Church Street, Suite 500
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5E 1M2

Welcome to Your Fittest Future Self. The concept of a fitter future self can feel like a mirage especially if you have tried many times to adopt a healthier lifestyle to no avail but creating your unique fitter future you is possible.

The two key words are creating and unique. A fitter self doesnt just happen you cant wish it into existence; it takes work. You have to purposely take the appropriate steps today because today is the only time we have direct control over what will create a different you in the future.

You also have to embrace that you are unique as we all are. It is unrealistic to think that following any generic program or even a tailored program that has worked for someone you know and trust will result in long-term success for you. You are the only version of you that exists. Generic programs are just that generic. Other peoples programs are just that theirs.

Instead of trying to find the perfect diet, workout, and mindset program to follow, create something tailored to you.

Enter your fittest future self.

Your Fittest Future Self offers you, the reader the doer a framework built on practical tools that will allow you to parse out the three spheres of health (diet, exercise, mindset) to figure out which of the healthy options will work best for you. You need these tools to curate what I call health mixes.

There are three mixes: your NUTRITIONmix, your WORKOUTmix, and your MINDSETmix. Together they form your YOUmix. Individualized health mixes are the key to health success. Why? Because we are each unique! There is only one person with your health history, genetics, goals, and life realities: you. It is no wonder so many of us continually fall off our health horse. Were trying to use programs created for the masses. We flip from program to program rather than working to understand and learn principles that should underpin our health process.

Dont worry. I dont simply explain the tools needed to create these mixes that would be boring. I offer one-stop shopping and break down the pros and cons of popular diets, workout programs, and mindset philosophies while also empowering you to analyze the information. The result? By the end of Your Fittest Future Self you will have both the data and the tools the cooking classes and the ingredients to create your three unique mixes.

One rewarding outcome of creating these mixes is that it reframes all your past work. Past experiences are no longer something to be frustrated about; rather, they become data information you can learn from. If you know an element of a diet or a type of workout absolutely didnt work for you, dont add that element to your mix. If you loved a particular element of a diet or a past activity playing a sport or dancing at clubs consider joining a team or taking dance classes. Learn from your past experiences so you can create, now, a mix that suits you so that you can finally create that fitter you.

Stop trying to find the perfect regimen to follow. Curate a plan that works for you.

As you read the book, remember four things. First, not only will every persons mix differ, but it will also vary and evolve throughout each individuals life. Your mix will not look like your moms, your favourite celebritys, or mine, but it will also not look like your future or past mix.

Second, not everything in this book will work for you. Different bits will work for different people, and thats okay.

Third, dont mistake my long-haul approach for an aversion to short-term goals or bursts of intense effort. I love goals. I am constantly setting both long- and short-term goals. Go ahead and have a short-term goal to get in extra great shape for a sporting event or a wedding, but learn to understand these short bursts as part of your long haul, as part of a larger process. Set long-term health intentions that, when appropriate, include short bursts (done in a healthy way) rather than a series of short bursts with no connected thread of intention. More critically, never mistake getting to the end of the burst as an excuse to discard your overall goals and throw yourself off your health horse.

Fourth, the information is structured around the four fitness personalities: gym bunny, competitive athletic gym bunny, time-crunched multi-tasker, and homebody. But that doesnt mean you will find information for only one personality useful. You might find that one personality particularly resonates but that elements of others apply as well.