Why do we do It? What are we afraid of, or… are we afraid at all? Can we actually admit to having Fear?
One of the biggest obstacles we all encounter is that very thing, ”Procrastination”. It is like a large dam. It holds back the true, natural flow of life. We procrastinate in our personal lives, professional lives, our fitness lives; all aspects of our lives we tend to procrastinate when the task has some type of growth is tied to it. You see everyone of us have some level of resistance when it comes to change. Yes, some of us out there adapt better than others; in the end we have to admit what we are resisting. Even the very core of our bodies fight change. Our bodies want to stay at a consistent weight. Whether we are increasing weight or loosing weight our body will fight it at first, then when it realizes that it can no longer resist, and enough reprograming has happened; whether by diet, exercise, self talk or a combination of all, the body will finally give in and change.
I want to focus on the health side of this article in our fitness lives. I am just coming to the end of one of my mid term goals. I started back in November with my brother as a family weight loss challenge. I lost up to 10-12 lbs. I didn’t diet very much and he was certainly beating me at this challenge. I was procrastinating. January came and I was going up and down with my weight. Something clicked inside,I had just gone through a major change, and I was ready. Since then I have continued losing weight. I had my moments when I plateaued and got frustrated. Today I weighed in at 185lbs. My journey started at 238lbs. The first thing, that was in my mind is that I really didn’t really need to loose that much weight. My reality was 15-20lbs and I would be ripped. LOL! I really understand that “my reality” was not what others could see that had had been where I was and had made their change already.
53 lbs. later I now realize what everyone else saw, and asked my self, “Why did I procrastinate so long?” Here some observations, FEAR, COMFORTABILITY, and SELF ILLUSION, all contributed to my resistance to change. The truth is that if we are comfortable with who we are, we will not change. The other large obstacle we tend to run into is fear, it is paralyzing at times. A lot of us won’t even try because of failing… it’s not even the result of failing, but the very thought that we might fail. Now that I look back, I had several of these feelings. How many times have we tried diets, programs, and other means to loose weight? The real results come from the true desire to change, and then you must have some kind of support system. If you don’t, it is very difficult to succeed.
So here is a hint what to do. Write what you accomplish down on a piece of paper. YES, write it down… it won’t become reality if it is not written down… you can always go back and enter it into the computer later if you are techy. Next you need to ask someone around you that is where you want to be. For example if you want to loose 20lbs find someone who has done that and looks the way you want to. Ask them what they did. I have a friend that when I started, he took pictures of me and labeled the fatso. Not very appealing, at the time he told me he didn’t think I could do it. That really lit me on fire I remember telling myself, “I’ll show him”. Two days ago, we were stretching in the group exercise room. He said, “This might be the biggest compliment you have heard from me, every time I look in the mirror I think I’m looking at me at first.” He was right that was the most flattering thing I have ever heard out of his mouth, because when I started this process I want to look a like him physically. I haven’t met anyone yet who doesn’t want to tell everyone how they did it, especially when they start felling good and seeing direct results. When you complete The first two items, create your plan and follow through. It will be challenging, but so is everything we do, when we really commit to something. You have to be committed, this is not for someone who just wants to change, and doesn’t really have the deep down desire, or ready for that change. So ask yourself two questions. Am I truly ready to change? Am I read to fully commit to that change? When you answer yes to those 2 questions , procrastination will dissipate and you will make a shift.
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