Ok, so it's still the beginning of the year. Most people have made resolutions and are already falling out of their new routine.
It's true, most are already failing at their goals for the year. It’s a sad reality but when you put a lot of pressure on yourself for the sake of a day on the calendar you will have a greater chance of failure. As humans it is one of our weaknesses, so you can accept that and try to work around it or you can just give up as most do.
When we, Doug and I, decided to get healthy five years ago, we obviously had to set goals. But our goals were not dedicated to a specific date on the calendar. We chose instead to focus on the idea and plan that this was a lifestyle overhaul. We chose to make this a new reality and we gave in to the truth that our old habits got us into our old shape so it was going to be new habits to get us our of our old shape.
When we want change we need to look at why and what it is that is making us want to change. If you want to lose a few pounds just because summer is coming, most times it is just not enough motivation. If you are looking to lose a few just to get into that little black dress for your cousin's wedding, again, it may simply not be enough. Having said that, you may be one of the few that manage to lose those few pounds, but as soon as you stop doing what you did to lose them, guess what… those pesky pounds are just sitting there waiting to get right back on your body.
If having a specific date is what it takes for you then, cool, good for you. Because for the rest of us, it just isn’t enough to just want to be slimmer, we need a real plan and a real goal, and a real reason to make the change that will keep us in that new slimmer shape.
When we started, although we had weight goals, we, more importantly, said enough, we put a goal in front of us and chose to accept;
- that a bottle of wine each night for dinner on the weekends had to stop.
- We had to accept that part of our daily routine had to include at least 30 min of exercise.
- We needed to eat out at different types of restaurants.
- And eat out less often.
- We conceded that we needed to pay more attention to the nutritional content we were eating and actually start counting calories.
- We needed to tell each other to be there as an accountability partner and gently with love, smack those pesky salty or sweet snacks out of each other’s hands.
- We agreed to cheer each other on as we began losing weight and,
- we agreed to push the other one out the door for a run even in the rain.
- We accepted a whole new life was about to begin and the only way we could do this was that we were doing it for our future selves and for the rest of our lives.
That may not be what you want to hear and it may be hard to accept. But that is the truth as we know it. If you think you can do a program for a specific time frame, achieve the goal you seek, then slide back into the old routine, you will return to your old body and usually with a bonus few pounds as a souvenir for your troubles. Sorry, sad but true.
So, as I have talked about several times before, your headspace is THE most important piece to this weight loss puzzle. It just is. Get your mind in the right space and then set up some support to keep your head in the game. You will naturally slide back into old habits, so you need to be prepared to have a plan in place to get you back on track.
Don’t let the easy way be so attractive that you start and fail one more time. Don’t let the past failed attempts at getting into shape cloud your new vision. Don’t let other’s failures be yours too. Set yourself up with every piece of support you can and you will have set yourself up for success.
Please, please, please know that if your support system isn’t being all you want it to be, reach out to us. We will be there for you because we want success for you. We want to surround ourselves with happy, healthy people and we want you to be part of our support system of success.
Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there. – Bo Jackson
