Ironically these lessons I’m about to share with you come from my personal experience and not so much professional.
And these lessons may come across a bit edgy but they are reminders that I wrote to myself in my journal as motivation to get moving and live fit again.
2015 was a great year, it was my first year being a father, I ran two businesses simultaneously, read many great books, traveled a bunch and meat many great people.
But in light of all the good that happened with my new role as a father and pressure of managing two businesses, I ended up having to deal with a level of stress that I was just not ready for which resulted in me gaining 50+ pounds in 12 short months!
Never have I thought that I would be back in this position again – out of shape and overweight.
But here I am and it didn’t happen overnight, it took a year of ‘stress eating’ to get here!
Each month I watched the scale numbers creep up higher and higher and each week I would convince myself that ‘I would start on Monday’. And I did start my weight loss plan many times over the course of the year, only I wouldn’t last, a few days in I would find a way to mess it up.
A single ‘bad meal’ would turn into a week off uncontrollable eating as a way to mask my stress and anxiety.
And with a few good days in between my many fests I ended up gaining weight and getting out of shape for the first time in almost 6 years.
As I embark on the journey towards creating balance in my life once again I want to share with you the 7 lessons that I’ve learned from this experience thus far and I’m integrating into my own personal transformation life plan:
Here we go…
1. You’ll never be ready to start getting in shape – start right now. Stop putting it off until tomorrow or Monday, if you’re not ready now you won’t be ready then! There is never going to be perfect time and if you wait to long like I did the road back will be that much harder and longer. Either way you if you already think that you’d like to lose some weight weather you start now or a year from now you’ll still need to go through the same process, so why not gain control over it now instead of waiting?
There is nothing to fear, it’s just a matter of doing what is uncomfortable over what is convenient.
Start now, it won’t be any easier if you wait a month or a year!
2. Life is busy and losing weight will always be inconvenient – you can make it work though. You’ll be just as busy tomorrow, a year from now and 10 years from now. There will be more demands, more responsibilities and more stress later in life and learning to lose weight while going through life’s storms is key to sustainable weight loss.
Unless you learn how to show up in this area of your life while handling everything else you’ll continue to struggle with weight issues.
Accept that there will never be a perfect time to do this, might as well just start now!
3. It’s not that important to me – until getting in shape becomes important to you you won’t do it. It really has to be important. Your life does not have to revolve around it and you don’t need to neglect your life’s responsibilities but losing weight has become a priority to you. Only then making choices that support your goal will be seamless and effortless in the process.
Most people accomplish that what is important to them, if you want to lose weight make sure it’s something that you really want and then get rid of anything in your life that does not support it.
4. Just accept the process and life of living fit – if you’re prone to being overweight accept that you’ll have to live life more consciously around food. Managing your portions, being aware of how what you eat and staying active will need to be part of your life, the sooner you accept this the sooner you’ll get out of your own way and prosper!
5. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you – master your triggers and reactions to stress, overwhelm and whatever else causes you to overeat. Most people that are overweight abuse food as a way to sedate their emotional pain and stress. If you’re going to lose weight and live fit this is a crucial area of self-development that must be mastered unlike anything else.
6. Stop lying to yourself – I was in denial (for a long time). Each time I got up on the scale and noticed that I’ve gained 10lbs I would convince myself that it wasn’t that bad, I still looked ok, my clothes fit me (a bit snug, but that was still ok). As long as you lie to yourself and tell yourself that it’s ok there won’t be any urgency to do anything about your situation.
Be honest, tell yourself that enough is enough and get to work!
7. Life is much better when you’re fit – it’s quite amazing to have experienced this contrast of being in superb shape and now being out of shape and how that affects all areas of my life!
Everything from self-confidence to social interactions, motivation and determination, everything is impacted in a negative way.
Putting on my shoes right now feels like a hard task, going out for a walk with a dog is effort and even doing Christmas shopping felt like running a marathon as I couldn’t stop sweating.
Living fit isn’t as much about how you look but it’s about how you feel and how you live your life.
Right now every area of my life is compromised because of my state and life is just that much better when you’re ‘fit’.
Conclusion
Life is short and if you want to get the most out of life you must get the most out of yourself.
Losing weight can become a gateway to you excelling in every other area of your life.
It’s amazing how much our weight issues affect all aspects of our lives – our relationships, our careers, our health, our passion, etc. Everything is affected by it and if you dare to take control over your weight issues you will ultimately take control over your destiny.
So don’t wait, do it now.
No more excuses, no more being scared and no more running away from the problem, face it head on and you’ll be amazed of what will come of it!
Let’s go!
Ruslan @613FIT