The Road is Long

I’m going to go over something we all encounter when meeting a challenge head-on.  Everyone trying to overcome anything will eventually, at one point or another, come across the demon of losing motivation.  Because it happens to everyone, it’s something we should all know how to recognize and surmount.

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I have lost about 50 pounds a couple of years back. I don’t think I went into too much detail of the process at the time. I want to expand upon that now.  What I did was simple, I changed my habits and I decided to lose weight the only real way at that point. No fad dieting, pills, or late night tv contraptions.  All I had to do was change what I ate, how much and I had to get myself up and moving.  To some that may not sound like much, and it really isn’t. Unless you are 250 pounds and possibly addicted to food.

For starters, when you decide to do something drastic (such as lose 50+ pounds or stop smoking or whatever), you generally start out with a lot of drive and motivation. This is great but it usually short-term.  What you need instead is sheer determination.  For something like losing a serious amount of weight you need to recognize that the road to success is very, very long. I’m talking years.  People seem to think that body change on that scale can be drastic and fast. The truth is that the healthy way, the not surgical way, is journey that will take longer than you can imagine. For me it literally took years. I think it took 2 or so to be honest. It was such a slow transformation that I never really noticed it happening and it took awhile for my brain to come to terms with the new me.

When the road is so long, the journey is exhausting. When your motivation is centered on an ideal look or you have the goal in mind, you can feel very driven. The problem is this eventually runs low or for some completely out. If you don’t see immediate improvements, a person is bound to become restless and lose sight of the goal.

Never lose sight of your goal. Always remember that the goal is worth it and that your life is not to be lived as a race.  If you change your eating and exercise habits little by little and maintain the determination to see your new lifestyle through day-in and day-out, you will get there. Try not to see your new lifestyle and habits as holding you back. Do not beat yourself up emotionally for indulging every once in a while. You are only human and life is for living. Having a piece of cake on your birthday will not make you fat. And neither will having one salad make you skinny.

Keep in mind that what you are going for is worth it. That is why you started. Remember where you were and why you started at all times, and you will be more focused on where your going. Do not compare yourself to anyone else.  The grass is not greener in someone else’s lawn, it’s greener where you water it. Feed your drive and do not lose focus by looking at someone else’s results. The only person you are responsible for, that will make you happy and get your results is YOU. Focus on you, where you have been and where you are going. Everyone else is on their own path and it has nothing to do with yours.

I lost 50 pounds over 24+ months. That’s roughly 1 pound every 2 or so weeks.  That’s reality. I would weigh myself every weekend at first and I dropped pounds fast, and I would celebrate with a cupcake. That seems to happen when you go from overindulging and not getting any cardio to hiking and eating more vegetables.  I started small. I got on a treadmill and did some inclines for half an hour. I ate vegetables whenever I craved pasta.  Eventually I started running and swapping avocado for mayo.  My goal was very loosely set.  I wanted to get healthier. I’m still working towards this goal.

My last message is this. Keep your head up, your eyes forward and never give up. You are the only one who can get you to your goals. Be strong, be there for yourself.  Keep the old you in mind and don’t disappoint her/him.

As the saying goes, “If you started when you first thought about it, you’d be done by now”