What if I told you that there are two routes you can take while on your weight loss journey? Go with one, and you’re destined for great success! Go with the other, and you’re destined for great disappointment…
It’s a cloudy, windy day here on Long Island, and despite Sunday being my day of ‘rest,’ I couldn’t just let you off the hook without a daily message now, could I? I’ve already played softball on my bum ankle, which isn’t quite 100% yet but is ‘good enough,’ and I’m taking a break from prepping my client’s programs for the week as I write this to you. Sundays are my day of recouping for the week ahead, and as usual, this one is going just according to plan ;-)
Anyway, in my near decade of working with folks on their weight loss journeys, I’ve come across two types of people: 1) Excuse Makers, and 2) Action Takers.
Obviously, the category you fall into is entirely up to you! If you’re currently an Excuse Maker, it’s very simple to switch things up and become an Action Taker. The reverse can happen, as well: You can be an Action Taker, and for whatever the reason, you can find a reason (or reasons!) to deviate into Excuse Making.
This much is clear: If you blame everyone and everything else in your life for where you’re at right now, then that’s going to be a tough pattern to break… Trust me — Been there, done that!
When I experienced my TWO YEAR weight loss plateau on my journey to lose 100 lbs., I went through this cycle more times than I can count. It was the two week buffer I’d give myself… If I didn’t lose weight one week, fine! I’d attribute it to perhaps a salty meal, eating too much fiber the previous day, whatever… If I STILL didn’t lose any weight the following week, then what the hell am I trying so hard for?! Screw it, I’m buying beer and pizza and going AWOL on my journey for a week, maybe two!
And what good did that do me? Well, NONE!
Instead of reassessing what I was doing, and looking for ways to IMPROVE both my dietary and fitness habits so that I can get things moving in the right direction, I’d throw them by the wayside, making excuse after excuse to my friends and family asking me things like, ‘Why are you eating all this junk again?,’ or ‘You haven’t been to the gym in a while. Why is that?’
When I’d finally decide to take action again, I’d set myself back a couple of weeks and more than a few pounds, which just added to my frustration…
Shit happens. It sucks, but that’s life! We are, however, in complete control of how we react and adapt to any situation that comes our way.
Yesterday, I wrote about how NOTHING you plan for or aspire to ever goes perfectly according to plan. I wish there was a surefire way to be successful with all the preconceived dominos falling in line, but there isn’t… There are going to be ups, downs, zigs and zags on any endeavor, and this will happen along the way on your weight loss journey, as well.
So, if you’ve hit a snag, and you have an ‘off day’ nutritionally or fitness-wise, you can do one of two things: 1) You can acknowledge that you were off, not dwell on it or feel bad about it, and simply get yourself going again, or 2) You can try and explain away all the things that happened to you that caused you NOT to follow through, remain frustrated in both yourself and the process, and just revert back to old habits.
The second option is a complete waste of time! It doesn’t matter why you fell off. It doesn’t change your’s, mine or anyone else’s view or opinion on why you deviated from your plan. What WILL change things is how you react and adapt to this ‘off day.’
So, things didn’t go according to plan… Oh well! Today is a new day, so start over, and be BETTER than you were the day before!
Again, I want to reiterate that most people are not strictly Excuse Makers or Action Takers. Motivation waxes and wanes, and when it wanes, we tend to try and explain away our lackluster results and apathy with BS versus taking more action to improve our situations.
In many instances for folks looking to lose weight and get healthy, it’s the scale — That infernal device you stand on that you measure ALL of your progress (or lack thereof) on. When we have what we deem to be a subpar week in our eyes, we get frustrated, we wonder what went wrong, and that ‘What the hell?!’ mentality begins to take effect.
All that hard work and dedication didn’t pay off because the scale didn’t spit back the number you desired, so why continue to bust your butt if it’s not giving you the results you want?
I recently wrote about why the scale is by far NOT the most important or the only means of measuring your progress, but that’s neither here nor there…
Save yourself the trouble I put myself through, and don’t let frustration derail you from taking action. If something’s not working, then analyze what can be done to improve things, and go from there! Perfection isn’t the goal, but neither is mediocrity or apathy.
Stop trying to explain away bad habits, and instead direct that energy positively by looking for ways to IMPROVE your situation! Trust me — You’ll be glad you did :-)
Until tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Pete Weintraub
pete@weightlossbypete.com
P.S. If you’re READY to stop making excuses and to start taking action on your weight loss journey, then you’re REALLY going to want to download my FREE report!
With 10 years of experience, SEVEN different fitness and nutrition certifications, and a sustained weight loss of 100 lbs., I think I know a thing or two about this Permanent Weight Loss thing ;-)
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