One of the best and worst days of my life was the day I realized that I was in my own way. I wanted to lose weight, to get control over my relationship with food and feel confident & comfortable in my own skin for so long but I hadn’t done it. I obsessed over it. I cried over it. I planned, prepared and even took action. But I hadn’t yet been successful. I had achieved other things – promotions at work, financial stability, degrees & accolades…but what kept me up at night was my dissatisfaction with my body. I never went a day without thinking about it. Heck, I hardly went an hour without thinking about it. But I was fat. Obese. Depressed. Frustrated. Tired. Ashamed. Lonely. Almost entirely hopeless.
And then it hit me: it was my fault. It wasn’t about my metabolism. It wasn’t about my upbringing. It wasn’t about temptation or working too much or anything else under the sun that I had become accustomed to blaming. It was about me. No one was force-feeding me hostess cupcakes, Ben & Jerry’s and pita chips. No one was holding a gun to my head and telling me to give up on eating clean and go back to routinely over-indulging. It was me. I was giving up on me. I wasn’t being consistent. I wasn’t making it a priority. No one forced me to value my job more than I valued my health. I did that all on my own. Ouch.
I was making excuses for myself. Those excuses kept me from reaching my goals. I was too tired, too stressed, too overworked. No one else controlled my food choices. Just me. It was always only me. I was obese because of my choices and my thoughts. I was obese because I chose to be. Super harsh but super true. I chose McDonalds. I chose ice cream. I chose to quit over and over again. I chose to routinely feed myself the lie of “I’ll start tomorrow”.
That reality was a tough one. But, as tough as it was, the flip side was insanely empowering. No one else could stop me. I was 100% in control of my choices and I was the only person who had to be on board with me reaching my goals. I had to make choices about what to eat no matter how much I worked, no matter how tired I was, no matter how frustrated I was. So ultimately, I had all the power and if I really wanted it (and I did!) I could create it. Woah. 100% ownership. Full potential. Completely unstoppable if I chose to be. Talk about POWER.
“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself” ~Jim Rohn
Are you where you want to be? When you look in the mirror, is what you see what you want to see? Are you as energetic as you want to be? Are you as confident as you want to be? If not, who are you blaming? Sure, there are external factors but none of them put food in our mouths. We do that ourselves. Our results, or lack thereof, are totally on us. I know that sounds harsh but it is also incredibly empowering news!
In his book “The Success Principles” Jack Canfield writes, “you have control over only three things in your life – the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behavior).” And you know what? Those three things are the only things you’ll ever need to reach your health goals. Whether your goal is to lose 20 lbs, 120 lbs, to do 10 pushups or to run a marathon, all you need is those things.
If you’re mentally running through a list of all the reasons you can’t, consider this:
- Double amputees run marathons
- People lose hundreds of pounds with unsupportive families
- People tranform their health and their lives with stressful, full-time jobs and many other personal obligations
You can tell yourself why you can’t or you can tell yourself why you can. Either way, you’ll be right.
I have a quote on my wall that is a powerful reminder to me each day. It says, “When you argue for your limitations you get to keep them.” Be careful what you argue for.
You are where you are because of what you have thought or not thought, what you have done or not done, what you have visualized or not visualized. Period.
I want to be the best version of myself. Life is short and I want to give it all I’ve got. The best version of me is possible. It’s possible for you, too.
Let go of excuses and limitations and do the work. In fairness, I know this isn’t always an easy thing to do. Our excuses and our justifications are comfortable. We’re used to them. They protect our ego. Change is hard. Change is scary. I want to help you make these changes. Get in touch with me, will you? I want to know what you’re struggling with and I want you to feel free to email me so we can overcome YOUR challenges. The best way to do that is by getting on my free VIP email list where I send out weekly tips, suggestions, workouts & recipes. Then you have my direct email address and can respond to any/all messages and let me know how I can help YOU. I mean that. So do it, k?