I get that A LOT!
And this week, I was asked to touch on the subject by Oscar Insurace, who provides health care in New York and New Jersey! So, if you have worked hard and got to your goal and now have that “WHAT’S NEXT?” feeling, please take a minute to read on and learn from my mistakes, AND my victories!
My first answer to, “Now what?”, is ALWAYS, “Set a NEW Goal!”
Those of you who did not know me back in 1996, don’t know that I hit my goal weight one other time in my adult life. Yup! I did a “Doctor Approved” weight loss plan. I lost 84# in about 7 months. When I hit my goal, you guessed it….I thought I was DONE, so I let all of my bad habits creep back in. I started eating the way I did before starting the “plan”. I started drinking alcohol and eating fatty foods again. At the same time, I was released from Physical Therapy(which was the ONLY exercise I was getting), so I stopped doing any exercise at all! Within 6 months, I had put back on 45#! Do you know what I did next?
I GAVE UP! Over the next 12 years, I dieted continuously, and gained more and more weight, before hitting my all time high, which was closer to 300# than I like to admit. I admit to 275#, so let’s just stick with that! 😛
No one had told me that health and fitness really IS a lifestyle that you must practice every day. There is no final destination. You can always be better. You can eat a little cleaner. You can stretch a little more. You can lift a little more. You can get a little stronger. I think of martial arts. Or yoga. People practice these for their entire lives! They are always working to improve. There is NO PERFECT! There is not a place where you now know everything, so that is the end. They just keep working on being THEIR VERY BEST.
Let’s fast forward to September 2008. I had at that point had 3 back surgeries including a lumbar spinal fusion. I was a drunk. I was a chain smoker. I was a couch potato. I HATED MYSELF!
I made a decision! I was tired of living like this, and I was refusing to go on diabetes and blood pressure medication. I was NOT going to live my mother’s life! She was always unhealthy and overweight. And she also died entirely too young!
So I reached out! I joined an online support group. They helped me realize that I did not have to be perfect, and making small changes in the beginning would amount to huge success in the end. So I walked 1/2 a block from my house and back 5 days a week and I cut out fried foods. The next week, I walked a full block and cut back to drinking alcohol 4 days a week. The third week, I walked 2 blocks, did 2 minutes of a 10-Minute Trainer video, and cut back to drinking 3 nights a week. See the pattern? Nothing drastic at first. SMALL CONSISTENT EFFORTS=BIG RESULTS.
I 100% believe that SUPPORT, no matter if it is one workout buddy, or a group of people online(who for me seemed less threatening, because they didn’t know me well enough to judge me, or at least I didn’t care if they did!), or a group of friends who team up to keep each other accountable as each works towards their individual goals.
And when that particular group broke up, I wasn’t sure exactly what to do. I knew I needed someone to be accountable to. So I went BIG! I went public! My accountability group became the WORLD! I started this blog. Then I started my Facebook Page. And when I found out that not only was I helping myself stay accountable, but that the people who were following me were using my posts and my page to stay accountable themselves, a passion to help them started growing inside me! I searched for the best way to do that, and that was when I was introduced to Beachbody!
Today, as a Beachbody Coach, I put people in groups to do the exact same thing! And not only does it help them, but it helps me. The more people in the group who participate and share and work to stay accountable, the easier it is for Me to also stay accountable.
In fact, those of you who follow me on Facebook, already know that I am starting a challenge this upcoming Saturday, November 1st, called “The $5, ‘Get Me Through The Holidays’ Challenge Group”.
GROUP! THAT is the key word here!
If you don’t feel you have to do it alone…
If you KNOW someone is watching…
If you know the other members of the group are counting on you for the same support that they are showing you…
You WILL show up! Many of us will do EVERYTHING we can to help someone else, but NEVER for OURSELVES! Mommies especially, I KNOW you are hearing me!
So I invite you to HELP SOMEONE ELSE!
Make it about THEM! You will be surprised at how much YOU will achieve if you start out trying to help someone else.
Decide. Commit. Succeed!
It is your choice. It is MY choice. I could easily decide tomorrow, that this public accountability life is too hard. That it would be SO much easier to live a quiet life where the world is not inspecting every bite I put in my mouth, every workout I do(or DON’T do), and every time I LIVE MY LIFE and have a beer(or several) with friends. Yes, I do LIVE! I try my best to stick to an 80/20 plan, but sometimes life happens. It gets messy.
But I get up every day and make a choice. I choose to do MY best each and every day! Some days are better than others. PERIOD! But you have to learn to let the bad ones go. Leave them in the past. You know the old saying, “Get back up, dust yourself off, and get back on the horse!” There is a lot of truth in that statement.
Aristotle said, “Excellence is a habit.”
The more you practice picking yourself up, the more it will become a habit. Excellence will become your normal. Your ordinary will become EXTRAORDINARY! So every day, when you wake up, while you are getting ready for your day, MAKE THE CHOICE! CHOOSE happiness!
So my 4 biggest “What To Do”‘s in “keeping it off”?
1) Realize that this is a LIFELONG journey! There is no final destination. There is always another goal that you want to reach.
2) SUPPORT!!! Find a group you relate to and hold on to them!
3) Help OTHERS work towards THEIR success!
4) CHOOSE to BE whatever you want! It really is as simple as that. Will it be EASY? Heck no! Will you have times when you need more help than others to get back up on that horse? YES! But can you do it? Of course! And Why? Because the choice is yours!
If you want to join one of my groups, contact me.
LOVE to you ALL!!!
Remember, the choice is YOURS! MAKE today GREAT!!!
Facebook page – Body By Brenda
bodybybrenda@hotmail.com
