16/01/2021
3 psychological learnings from a fitness coach on HAVING LOST 60 KILOS!
If you're working on your NEW YEAR RESOLUTION, give this a read.
1) "IF I'M NOT MISERABLE WHILE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT, I'M NOT DOING IT RIGHT"
I have said this to myself throughout my own weight loss journey, I have heard clients say this and I am certain that you've said it to yourself at some point as well.
This plays right into the kind of "suffering/sacrificing hero" fantasy that's been associated with success in general.
The truth is...most people who have been successful at achieving any goal will tell you that even though things were tough they were able to do what they did for no other reason but because
they found some enjoyment in doing the damn thing.
Don't like a particular diet? Don't force it on yourself, try some other one.
Don't like to run? Try dancing/swimming/yoga/pilates/aerobics/boxing/lifting/rock climbing/rope skipping...
Don't like to going to the gym? Find a friend you like hanging out with and get them to play a sport with you.
"It is no one else's responsibility, if not yours, to learn to FIND "fun" in the things you have to do" - PP
2) YOUR GOALS AND YOUR RESULTS DONT HAVE TO LOOK LIKE ANYBODY ELSE'S -
I have done, I have learnt and I have coached.
I have power lifted and boxed, I have done yoga, I have run a marathon.
I have been overweight, I have been skinny, I have been strong.
I know that
A big motivation for people to lose weight, to become rich, to buy that "house" or that "car" is the joy they will get from people's responses to their sucess.
As somebody who's conquered this one goal, let me tell you, once you're on the other side...people's congratulations, envy, admiration, hatred, praise MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
I wish I was lying...I wish I could say it feels spectacular to do things that no one thought you could but the truth is once you have honestly surrendered to the kind of determination and
effort it takes to achieve anything real, what other people think stops to move your emotional needle altogether.
If you're a girl and you'd much rather look like the beast is than just be skinny...you're alright!
If you've lost some weight and are healthier than before but don't have six pack abs yet...listen to me, you have done well.
Nobody knows what the "best" physique/idea/result/solution/life is. Decide and just do.
3) FITNESS IS ABOUT SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST FITNESS.
The psychological effect of my own phsyical "transformation" as well as that of the people I work with,
has been so profound that I would fail at describing it's true depth in any other way but to give you a peak into my mindset while trying to lose weight..to achieve this goal.
When I was on a "diet", in my head, what I was really doing is practicing self control...for life.
Self control that helps me keep all distractions to the side when I decide to go after anything I want.
When I exercised, to me, it was really a workshop...a lesson in discipline that I was teaching myself.
Discipline to carry me through the days when my "mood or levels of motivation" don't match the vastness of the vision I have for myself.
That one day of resisting a temptation made me believe "this a person who can forgo smaller pleasures for the greater goal"
That one rep that I didn't want to do but made myself do anyway helped me believe "this a person who deserves my utmost admiration and respect"
"If you think a fit body is the only thing that can come from losing weight, think again" - PP
That's it for today. Lion out. Go play now. Make me proud.
