THE BATTLE INSIDE YOU

For those of you who feel and or have ever described yourself as a soldier battling a weight problem—let me remind you that how you view something does and will affect the outcome. In other words if you are anticipating and experiencing things as a difficult war zone, it will not be something you want to face on a regular basis. It might actually prompt you to quit.

Suppose that you were to examine at the same situation and view it differently. Let’s say, you were to describe it a “challenge” or “character builder”. Something that is not so ominous and denotes a sense of personal achievement upon completion. You would be more likely to be drawn to it. Think about how you feel about your body, your health program, and your exercise routine. Now take a moment, be creative and begin to perceive it differently. And just notice how begins to change things.

COMPARE OR INSPIRE ?

One thing overweight people do best is compare themselves. I suppose that’s true for a majority of people as well.  Healthy comparisons can be good. It can inspire you to move toward greater goals or take action toward improvements. However, if you don’t have confidence-comparing yourself can lead to less confidence. Most of the time the greatest improvements are made when you concentrate on your own achievements. Regardless of why you may compare yourself, ultimately it takes away from the one thing that does matter—what you want. I think it best to let go of any judgements, be clear about your desires, and focus focus focus.

CONSTANTLY COMPARING VS HEALTHY COMPETITION

One thing overweight people do best is compare themselves. I suppose that’s true for a majority of people as well. The comparison seems to be the basis of how people may view themselves. “My body will never look like that” or “I ran a mile but Bob ran two.” Healthy comparisons can be good. It can inspire you to move toward greater goals or take action toward improvements. However, if you don’t have confidence-comparing yourself can lead to less confidence. Most of the time the greatest improvements are made when you concentrate on your own achievements. Regardless of why you may compare yourself, ultimately it takes away from the one thing that does matter—what you want. I think it best to let go of any judgements, be clear about your desires, and focus focus focus.

MIND YOUR OWN FOOD BUSINESS

My clients who have decided to fine tune their eating habits are sometimes  met with resistance from their friends or families. Often it is with "innocent/caring" statements  such as "Let's just have fun. You can worry about it tomorrow." "Nobody wants to go out to eat with you anymore." or  "You are making me feel bad about my food."

Criticism that isn't supportive undermines our progress. And personally I think when people feel a need to comment on my food choices it's just plain rude. However, i remind myself that typically the comments others make tends to highlight their insecurities.  If you are the one making the comments ask yourself why you think the other person isn't "fun"?  Is food so central to your having fun. Or do you feel guilty about the choices you are not making?

HOCUS POCUS IT'S ALL ABOUT FOCUS

Most of the time the greatest improvements are made when you concentrate on what you want and the way you want it to be instead. Regardless of what obstacles may come your way, focusing on how to change someone or something outside of yourself is time consuming. Ultimately it takes away from the one thing that does matter—what you want. I think it best to achieve is to let go of any judgements, be clear about your desires, and focus focus focus. All the magic you need is inside of you.

IT'S QUALITY THAT COUNTS

A few years ago I injured my knee. I attempted to continue my work out but I quickly learned that the human body will only allow you to go so far until it sends you a clear message to continue would be damaging.

Because of this I went to all my classes but could not participate in the running, and did NOT increase the intensity of many of my exercises. As a result I had put on a couple of pounds because I had not altered my eating. I am very in tune with my body so I could feel a significant difference in the way it felt. 

I continued to work out while healing my knee both physically and mentally. I increased the intensity of every exercise both mentally and physically. I was very aware of my food choices. And as a result maintain a very healthy physical body.

From this incident I learned a few things. First, it was good subconsciously to keep going to the gym. It continued my habitual ritual. Second, when you are really hurting best to not push it as you will heal faster by caring for the injury. And last,it isn't just doing an exercise that counts but what you put behind it. 

Like anything in life, the amount of effort you put into something is a clear indication of the amount of results you will achieve. Just "going through the motions" will not warrant the same results as lets say someone who really gives it their all. Either way, the same amount of time passes--so you might as well get the most out of your minutes.

END OF THE THIRD QUARTER

If I were a stock broker you wouldn’t expect to invest your money and be a millionaire by the end of the month. Especially these days. You would view " it" as a long term investment. Healthy weight loss is best viewed as an investment. And you are making an investment in yourself. Think of it as a long-term investment. Now, unlike the stockmarket you know that if you stick to regular sessions of exercise, commit to making one healthy choice at a time and are persistent –there is a pay off at the end. And this is a life long pay off. This is an investment for the rest of your life.

YOU ARE AMAZING

I remember my science teacher once told the story about a single cell making its way out of the water and joining another cell. The two cells together were able to survive easier. And cells began merging to live and survive.

There are 50 to 75 trillion cells in the human body. Whenever I eat and exercise, I am visualizing my cells. I think about what nutrients I am sending them and what they require. In doing this I also stay away from things that are extremely deadly to my cells (sugar, too much alcohol, man made products). Visualization helps me to be more consciously aware of the effect these things are having on my body. I am also visualizing the positive effects of exercising. The cells getting oxygen and thriving.

Think of yourself as the guardian of these precious living organisms. Considering how you have been treating them so far. remember they are counting on you to care for them.

DO IT FOR YOU

Make sure you are doing something for you and you alone. Resolving to do something for a family member or society is a sure way of setting oneself up for failure. 


Is it from your heart? Is it meaningful to you? You want it and what are you willing to do for it? Be responsible for the goal you are setting. Make sure it is possible for you to achieve it.


 Don't lose weight to prove something. Set a goal that is attainable and self-initiated. Remember there is always a bit of discomfort in change because you are reprogramming a past behavior. This is only temporary. As you work through the difficulties, the positive changes will occur. The discomfort is very small compared to the pay-off.

COMPARE IS NOT FAIR

One thing overweight people do best is compare themselves. I suppose that’s true for a majority of people as well. The comparison seems to be the basis of how people may view themselves. “My body will never look like that” or “I ran a mile but Bob ran two.” Healthy comparisons can be good. It can inspire you to move toward greater goals or take action toward improvements. However, if you don’t have confidence-comparing yourself can lead to less confidence. Most of the time the greatest improvements are made when you concentrate on your own achievements. Regardless of why you may compare yourself, ultimately it takes away from the one thing that does matter—what you want. I think it best to let go of any judgements, be clear about your desires, and focus focus focus.

PLANK YOU

There is an on going friendly (very supportive) competition between myself and a good friend (a personal trainer) at one of my gyms. I discovered that he could hold the plank position for 3 1/2 minutes. So naturally I set a goal to do 4 minutes. After achieving this we have both decided to go for five minutes. And setting a pace for ten minutes. Now here is where the story turns--I then discovered that my kickboxing instructor could hold his plank for over ten minutes. Of course I immediately reported this information to my friend while a mutual acquaintance was standing there.

Now my friend (the trainer) was very impressed while the acquaintance quickly interjected that my kickboxing instructor was lying. When I gave him a look of surprise- he than concluded that it was because my instructor was smaller in size. To which both my friend and I replied was totally irrelevant.

What I found most interesting was at no point did my friend (the trainer) nor I find ourselves jealous, threaten or in need to make an excuse for the kickboxing instructor to be better than us. In fact we both saw it as an opportunity to challenge ourselves. While the acquaintance responded in a way that is unfortunately shared by a good deal of the population. Rather than be inspired and decide to set a new goal for oneself, most people will look at a healthy slim person and come up with fifty different reasons why they are not able to do things. No one is saying you have to hold the plank position for 5 minutes. This isn't a story about trying to "out do" someone. Nor is it about comparisons and competition. It really is about setting small goals for ourselves. And as we achieve these goals finding people that inspire us to continue to be even better. Instead of feeling envious - find ways and recognize people who inspire you to be and try your best.

FEED YOUR THOUGHTS

A client told me he began thinking to himself that he was losing weight. He felt more energetic and was more aware of his eating choices. After a couple of weeks he was amused to find that several of his friends asked him if he had lost weight.

When he got on the scale, he discovered he was the same weight. No more. No less. And so he went back to his old way of thinking and returned to his old eating habits. Now you and I know that if he had continued, he probably would have lost weight. You don’t have to be a doctor to realize that if you eat better and move more, you will eventually lose weight. But what this also illustrates is his ability to effect his own perception and the perception of others by what he was saying to himself.

COMPARING YOURSELF

One thing overweight people do best is compare themselves. I suppose that’s true for a majority of people as well. The comparison seems to be the basis of how people may view themselves. “My body will never look like that” or “I ran a mile but Bob ran two.” Healthy comparisons can be good. It can inspire you to move toward greater goals or take action toward improvements. However, if you don’t have confidence-comparing yourself can lead to less confidence. Most of the time the greatest improvements are made when you concentrate on your own achievements. Regardless of why you may compare yourself, ultimately it takes away from the one thing that does matter—what you want. I think it best to let go of any judgements, be clear about your desires, and focus focus focus.