Live In Fitness – Retreat Yourself
It’s two o’clock in the morning. You stare into the bottom of an ice cream bucket, or an empty pizza box, and think, “This is ridiculous. I have to stop”? You settle in front of the TV, full of food and remorse, and turn on the TV only to find some ripped guy and a supermodel extolling the thinning powers of their new machine. You think, “Ah, that’s it. I’m going to buy this and my life will change.”
Days later, it shows up. Your conviction to change has waned a bit, but you just spent good money on a promise that you desperately want to believe. You take it out of the box and use it for a couple days…maybe a couple of weeks, and you start to feel a little healthier, a little stronger, and maybe even a little thinner. Then for a reason (or maybe reasons) you probably don’t even know, you order a large pizza with everything on it and eat the whole thing. Your new machine gets thrown in the garage to collect dust with the other machines and fad diet books. The only thing that has changed is that you have wasted money and feel more certain than ever that you can’t change…that this is just who you are.
You’re right on one count⎯that is just who you are…right now. You’re a person who wants to be healthy and happy but can’t seem to get there. But you’re wrong about your ability to change. At our Live in Fitness retreat on Hilton Head Island, we insist that you change. That’s why we won’t let you be who you are. Of course we want you to keep the deep-down ingrained positive traits, but we insist on removing the self-defeating thoughts and behaviors that have kept you from being thin, healthy, and truly happy. Yes, this is another promise, but it’s not empty, and not one you can throw in the garage.
How can we promise this change?
For starters, because we’ve changed the lives of people that believed deep down that they could never be thin, healthy and happy. And we did this by discovering why they failed in the past and changing the way they behaved and thought. Of course fitness and nutrition are integral elements of our program. What and how much you put in your body is important, as is making exercise part of your lifestyle. But if the mind doesn’t change, the body won’t…at least not for very long. Exercise and nutrition are just the icing⎯thoughts and behaviors are the cake.
When Eric Viskovicz, Founder and President of Live in Fitness started his journey to help people change their lives, it was primarily about fitness. Granted, this helped people for the short term, but soon after they left the gym or the beach, the self-destructive thoughts and behaviors reemerged, and they ended up back where they started.
Years ago, while training clients at his fitness retreat, Eric started observing how people responded to weight loss and fitness regimens, and after a while he realized that, by categorizing them into seven different personality profiles, he could more positively affect them and drastically increase the likelihood of their long-term success. These profiles are: Perfectionist, All-or-Nothing, Victim, Searcher, Void, Caretaker, and Athlete.
Perfectionists are responsible, high achievers who may fail over the long term because they can never reach their unrealistic goals. All-Or-Nothings are fun, creative people who are all-in, until they burn out and move onto the next activity or challenge. Like these two, Victims, Searchers, Voids, Caretakers, and Athletes all have positive traits that are countered by inherent flaws. None is worse than the other, and they are not labels that we put on our clients. They merely allow our behaviorists and coaches to maximize strengths and eliminate weaknesses.
As you look at the different personality profiles, you’re probably thinking, “Oh man, I fit into more than one of those for sure.” That’s neither a bad thing, nor is it abnormal. We are all complex people with very individual strengths, weaknesses, problems and needs. That’s exactly why we place so much importance on the behavioral aspect of our program. It enables us to address each client’s needs and goals on a very person-specific level. It’s the reason we’ve been around for twenty years…because we’re not a cookie-cutter weight loss getaway that promises everyone individual success and then delivers a very non-individual program. It’s the main reason that our clients succeed for the long-term. They leave here, not just thinner, happier, and healthier, but they also have the tools to stay that way.
You will have these tools, too, and they will allow you to not be the person you were when you got here. The way you look will change. The way you feel will certainly change. But the most important change you will make is the way you behave. A positive voice will replace the negative one that tells you that you can’t, or that you’re not good enough. You will be able to visualize your goals and make them come to fruition. You will be able to eat pizza, ice cream, or whatever you want responsibly, without devouring everything in front of you. You can be yourself, only now you can be your best self.
