Change — how bad do you want it?

I always find it interesting to hear what people have to say, about life in general but mostly about why it is they “can’t “ achieve their goals or get things done or make things work or most importantly lose weight.

Before I continue, I think I should explain how I know so much about this topic. In July of 2007 I weighed 315 lbs. For the 12 years before that, I tried every gimmicky diet and had every excuse in the book as to why I couldn’t lose weight. The only place I managed to lose weight was in my wallet from all of the stupid shit I tried.

This July 2012 marked my 5 year anniversary of not weighing 315lbs, in fact over the past 5 years I have lost 140 lbs (so far). I say “so far” because I consider myself a work in progress, I’m always setting new goals for myself and pushing myself harder, just because I know that I can.

“… I’ve been working out and I’m just not seeing the results I want, but I CAN’T not eat sugar or fast food or cut back on drinking, especially in the summer”

I’m pretty sure if you asked yourself, and I mean honestly asked yourself…you would see that it’s not that you can’t do something it’s that you are choosing NOT to do something. It could be fear based, it could be that you are not really ready or it could be because you simply don’t want it bad enough.

When it comes down to it you need to ask yourself how bad you really want something. If you’re starting out of the gate by saying “I can’t” chances are you don’t want it bad enough and you will give up before you even start. Or like most people you will start off crazy strong and then give up because you’re not getting the instant gratification that you are looking for. I hate to break it to you but there is NO magic pill.

This is where perseverance comes in. A person with perseverance uses failure as a tool to attain success and such a person learns from that failure, rather than be discouraged by it. With perseverance, achieving success is just a matter of time; sooner or later you are going to achieve your goal if you stick with it. Keywords there — STICK WITH IT.

( v persevere [pəːsiˈviə]to continue to (try to) do something in spite of difficulties)

If I gave up every time I hit a roadblock or got injured or didn’t lose as much weight as I wanted chances are, I’d still be 315 lbs. In fact it took me 12 years of life to figure out that I had to stop making excuses and buying into stupid gimmicks and quick fixes oh and of course saying “I can’t”. Looking back I know that the real problem was that I just didn’t want it bad enough at the time, because that would have required change and change is hard.

Don’t give up just because you don’t automatically see the results you think you should be seeing. The important thing to remember is that a little progress every day adds up to big results; don’t give up what you want most for what you want now.

Written by: Brenda McKinney, NSCA-CPT, RHN (in training)