The Voices in Your Head

I wrote up another blog post not long long ago about the concept of ambivalence. The idea that you can hold contradictory desires in your head at the same time. If you are overweight, I'm guessing this is the conversation in your head. It would be nice to lose some weight and fit into some old clothes but... I just don't have the time or energy to tackle something new right now. My job is busy, the kids are crazy with activities and life, and I just love french fries way too much. Plus I'm not that out shape.

You've maybe tried a diet or exercise program or gym membership but as soon as you start going with that, you look in the rearview mirror and you think how comfortable you were before, and how hard this is now. The change doesn't seem as sexy anymore and you revert back. Then things get bad enough again where changing some things seems like a good idea... and....

Am I close???

That was my thinking at the time of my before picture. I had those voices inside my head.  I didn't think I was that out of shape, and to be honest, compared to some I wasn't. I thought I was doing a decent job of working out eating. I didn't wake up one morning and all of a sudden I weighed 25 lbs more than I should. NO... those pounds crept on slowly through all of those little decisions I was making or not making. I had already set the cruise control on the way to Diabetesville in the land of Obesedom.

Does any of that sound like where you are at with your health journey?  Do you struggle with those same doubts and hesitations?  It's ok, those are natural.  Here's the awesome thing, you can change!  

For me I finally said enough was enough I surrendered myself to a process to get healthier and fit. It was hard! I didn't like it! That process pushed me to get uncomfortable. It taught me to relearn a lot of things when it came to diet and exercise.

It's been a 3 year journey since that before photo!  I'm proud to say I haven't put the weight back on like so many statistics say should have happened. The only thing I can give credit to for that is being held accountable for my decisions. Yeah I not only coach people how to make changes, I'm doing the work too. I'm constantly learning and growing in this journey.  That's what makes it fun for me.

3 Tips to Get Control of the Voices in Your Head

1. Admit that they are there.  Sounds easy!  But acknowledging that you have conflicting thoughts is  great way to move forward.  It's kind of like putting together that pros and cons list for the boyfriend/girlfriend that you seeing in college.  Write down what you are thinking.  Then write down the pros and cons for either staying put or making change.
2. If you truly know that change is the best course of action.  This may not become apparent until you do #1 but often if you have hesitations about making change, that usually means you should.  If this is the verdict, tip #2 is write an action plan.  If I told you to drive from Minnesota to Texas, you could do it pretty easily and probably wouldn't need a plan, head south.  But if I told you drive to Frank's Diner is Austin, Texas, and to meet with Matthew McConaughey, now you need a specific plan.  Where is the diner?  What time?  What will I wear?  You know all that important stuff.  With your plan the more specific you can be the better.  List out all the steps you need to take.
3. Lastly, share those thoughts and plan with someone.  This might be a little uncomfortable but putting it out there in the open or at least with one other person will significantly increase the chances of making lasting change.  Plus you will find out that you aren't that weird for having the thoughts that you are.  

With that I would love to extend a couple invitations to you if you want to start moving through these steps. First off, if you are ready to surrender your current lifestyle and habits and start rebuilding some new ones, Laura and I have an online accountability group that starts on Monday, November 30th. Being a part of one of these groups was the process that started my transformation. This will be a 5 week group on Facebook where you will get nutritional advice, daily motivation, a community that will support you, and a chance to win some prizes.  Serious what do you have to lose?  Why not hit the New Year running?

Secondly, if you know that you won't stay committed by just wading into this fitness and health thing. Or maybe you've done a couple groups with us but just haven't quite felt that real motivation to change. If you know it will take the pressure of people looking up to you to truly commit. Why not jump in the deep end and give this coaching thing a try?  Oh and don't worry the deep end isn't that deep.  We make sure to help you get started right so that you can be successful with your weight loss and your business. That's the best of both worlds right, get healthy and make some money!  If you would like to know more about coaching, shoot us an email, we would love to chat.