How many fat people do you know that have started to diet, then very quickly given up? It seems that even if they are making progress, they dump the diet and fitness efforts and revert back to their slackass ways. What on earth is going on with these people?
Hey, I’m sure it is a pretty complicated topic area, but one thing that I’ve noticed is that people are trying to get into shape for the wrong reasons. They pick motivations that are transient. For example, if I get in shape I bet Cindy Lou will definately want to boink me! Okay, great, sounds like a plan. Too bad you see Cindy Lou with her tongue in someone elses mouth the next day. Too bad the guy is built like a linebacker and he has his hands down her pants.
Slice of pizza, or a dozen, anyone?
I’m sure the title is a bit of a clue, but I think you need to be motivated for yourself. The goals can be specific, but they need to be things that aren’t transient. I think it helps if the person starting the new lifestyle is saying things like:
I want to be in shape for me.
I want to achieve some goal, be healthy, live longer, look good, take pride in my appearance, deserve a chick who’s nickname is not Bessie, wake up after getting laid and not find a cow bell or dog collar on the floor.
If the thing your brain has focused on as the reason you are enduring all the pain and suffering of a new fitness and diet regimen suddenly goes away, how the hell can you resist reverting to your crappy habits? If you are like most mortals, you can’t! Why set yourself up for failure like this?
As a FFB (Former Fat Boy) this concept has certainly worked pretty well for me. Several years back, unemployed because the startup I was in tanked, completely out of shape, recently single from a serious relationship, I was getting a bit unhappy with things. I knew I wanted to do something about it, but I wasn’t motivated yet.
I actually did exactly nothing about it for a month or two, eating like a pig, watching television, wallowing in self-pity and so on. All the while I was slowly getting more and more disgusted with myself. I knew that I’d never get my ex back, there was no point using that as a reason to get in shape. No, it wasn’t until I was totally fed up with myself, that I decided that I wanted to return to the person I once was, that I was able to get started.
Yes, that’s about the time I came across what was then called T-Mag, and started to read up on nutrition and training advice. I wasn’t ready for the training at that point, but I started to change my habits and found myself progressing. I was setting goals I wanted to achieve, simply because I wanted to achieve them. No matter what crap came and went in my life, and there was plenty of it, my desire for those goals was still there.
If something tempts you, you need to have the strength to resist it. Ask yourself, what do you want? Then ask yourself, how bad do you want it? You’ll know very quickly whether or not you want it bad enough to actually achieve it. Do you want it bad enough to walk past the foods you are used to eating? Do you want it bad enough to get your ass outside or down to the gym when you are sore and tired? Do you want it bad enough to keep working day after day, month after month, year after year, until you get it?
If you have goals that aren’t transitory, if you are doing it for yourself and not for someone or something else, then if you want it bad enough, it is simply a matter of time. Don’t worry about how long it takes. You’ll eventually be the person that other people look at with envy, wondering how come you are so lucky. You’ll know it isn’t luck, but years of determination, discipline and desire.
Set your goals wisely and make sure you are doing it for yourself. I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but I’m chasing my own goals, in my own time, and have made great progress. So can you, if you know what you want and if you want it bad enough to make it happen.
Are you fat and out of shape? Although you can probably get there faster than I did, here’s my transformation in progress and a lot of the information that helped me out…
Checkpoint / Advice
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=632072
Are You A Beginner?
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=550116
Please excuse the shameless plugging of my own threads and good luck!