If there were a 'magic pill,' I'd call it 'Commitment and Consistency.' Those real results are worth every effort, and the process of how you get there is your own unique adventure.
It is amazing the lengths we will go to avoid the difficult conversations we need to have with ourselves. Often we will point fingers at other people or circumstances and say "that's why I haven't lost weight" or "that's the reason I'm tired all the time". It is times like these where the classic comment of "when you point your finger at someone (or something) you are pointing three fingers at yourself" has never been more true. I say this from my own experience. Emotional or mindless eating coupled with a sedentary lifestyle got me back up to almost 300lbs....again.
Of course none of this happened overnight. It creeps up slow and steady. It wasn't until I stopped lying to myself that I was able to have an honest conversation. Not about why but what and how. What was I feeling? What was I avoiding? How did food make me feel? How has my life changed by gaining the weight? As you can imagine, none of this was positive. Feelings were anger, fear, sadness and food made me temporarily happy. Especially food that had lots of carbs and covered in tomato sauce and cheese. That's right, chicken breast and broccoli. At the end of the day, I wasn't happy and I was the one who was causing it. Those three fingers pointing right at me. BUT! I was also the one who could fix it.
It wasn't until I took a real interest in my own health and happiness that I was able to start moving forward. What did I do you ask? Well, let me tell you. Not much. No really, not much at all. I made a few small changes that I was able to stick to which lead to big changes. Here are some of the changes:
Salad for lunch every day. Not some terrible thing a rabbit would eat but a big salad with a lean protein, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, nuts, peppers etc.
I walked to work everyday. About 30 minutes each way. Except for the silly cold or rainy days.
I did some squats, lunges and push ups at home every other day.
That's all. Everything else stayed relatively the same. This knocked off the first 40lbs. I was pretty proud of that. While I had some success and was feeling better, there were still some of those old thoughts and habits that would sneak up and poke their nose in again. So I came back to my what's and how's. This time I asked them to the future. What do I ned to do to keep going? How will my life improve by losing more weight and being leaner? What areas of my life can I improve? This is where the lies really crept in. Telling myself I have done all that and being a bigger person is just who I am. I didn't really try though. I realized I had knowledge but my habits were missing so I hired some help.
My coach help me set up a regular eating plan, helped me understand portion sizes and macro distribution. That helped me a lot with the next 20lbs. Once I started building habits with nutrition those habits started to spill into my exercise habits. Those body weight exercises every other day became daily. A couple time a week yoga practice turned into a daily practice. The body weight exercises turned into lifting weights again and running.
After another year or so of sticking with these habits I got down to 197lbs. I had not been that weight since high school. The thing that got me there was not the exercises or the running. Not the salads or the yoga. It was sticking to it. Be consistent with daily activity (eventually), make positive nutrition changes (this could mean adding to your diet, not taking away!) and having a reason to change. Not wanting to change but NEEDING to change. That conversation with yourself can be challenging. David Goggins is one of the best at overcoming adversity, I have included a clip hear (https://youtu.be/Cabi-U27A6c?si=9tOYNSJcEhvrcmFK) of how he has had those conversations with himself. I will admit it may not be for everyone but maybe its for you.
If any of this sounds familiar at all have that conversation with yourself. If you don't know how or are afraid of the conversation, that's ok (I get it!), we can help. Hit the contact button or message me directly at ifaperformance@gmail.com. Small consistent steps will take you anywhere you want to go. Don't worry about if they are the right steps, just get started and stick with it. You CAN do it!
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