It took me three long hard years to lose 100 pounds and I have to say at times it was not easy. However, I was so happy to have someone helping me!!! I was so thankful and grateful that someone was taking the time out of their life to pour into me their energy, their love, their time, and their prayers to see that I was successful.
Did I fall off the wagon sometimes?..YES! Did I feel like giving up? Yes..but I was so Damn tired of being fat, lonely, always thinking of food and having food be my god, that I was sick and tired of being sick and tired!! I knew my life would be so much different if I just had a healthier body…a more energetic body…a more beautiful body!
I had so many motivating factors that keep me focused on my goal. When it came to quiting, or not quiting, I knew I had to ask myself a very important question because losing weight was not just about me.
This might sound odd, but I was also losing weight for my coach and mentor. You know, it is really important to lose weight for yourself. That is the main goal and reason why anyone should want to get fit. But, for some reason, I found it was very important to not just think about myself. I had to think about my coach and mentor because of the dedication she had given me. She gave me three years of her time and energy to motivate me, help me, and encourage me and I didn’t want to disappoint her.
I had my children to think of. I wanted to be a good role model and I knew if they saw me do it, then it would inspire them to also live healthy and fit lives. For this is how we change generational patterns.
I knew too, that if I could be successful at one of the most difficult things on the planet to do..lose weight, then I could inspire other people to do the same.
So, it is not just about ourselves when it comes to making that change.
How do you stay motivated and focused when it gets hard to resist using food as comfort or as a stress release?
1. Use Affirmations: Wake up every morning, pray, and then say affirmations that positively state the goal you want to achieve. These can be for weight loss and everything else you want to happen for you. For example: I say everyday, ” I love how fit and beautiful my body is now that I am thin. I look years younger and people comment on how great I look”…I said this at 232 pounds. Was I thin and healthy then? No, of course not, but I had to speak to my brain and literally re-program the negative thinking I had incorporated as my major thought pattern. For thoughts come before habits…changing my thoughts helped me to change my habits toward food.
2. Make New Habits – It takes 21 days to form a new habit. I know you’ve heard this but I think it takes a little longer…more like three months, but within 21 days, if you have an open and teachable spirit, you can literally change a bad habit into a good one. It takes this amount of time for your brain’s dendrites to die and form new thought patterns created by actions that you repeat over and over. For example, if you exercise everyday for 21 days, you will have formed a new habit. Once you see the wonderful results, you begin to link this good feeling to exercise making it more enjoyable. I love to workout now, but this was not the case when I first began my new life of fitness. Just give it time and you will love any new healthy lifestyle change.
3. Get a Mentor – All great people have mentors to help them succeed. This goes for us too. They were not successful before the mentor..it was with help that they achieved great things. You can’t do everything alone. With the energy you receive by working with someone who cares about your welfare and success, you learn what it takes to win. Listen, take their advice, be a good student and stay positive. You will succeed.
4. Get Rid of “Stink-in Think’in” – Negativity is like poison, it kills anything good, pure, and just that you can ever imagine. Seeing the glass half empty is only the tip of the iceberg. Thinking you’re a loser, believing the lies you tell yourself about your mistakes only creates a deep well of despair. When a negative thought enters your mind, do a “Flip-Flop”..meaning, flip it into a positive statement. For example, if it is natural for you to say..”I will never reach my goal”, instead say, “I will reach my goal because I am focused and motivated to succeed”. By saying a flip-flop, you’re now in control, not your negative thoughts. You now have empowerment and you’ve told your brain what to do! It works every time.
5. Use Positive Pictures – Make a poster collection of positive pictures depicting your future life. How do you want to look? Where do you want to work? Live? What do you want to drive? What life goals do you want that will support your new body and fitness level? Find the pictures from magazines or off the internet and paste them to a large poster board. Look at them daily. Instead of thinking that you will never reach these goals, know that they will come true. Every picture that I’ve cut out has come to pass for me. Some came quickly, and some have not been fulfilled yet, but I still have hope. The brain understands and has to see pictures. Over time, things seem to line-up in your life and those pictures become reality.
Use these strategies and you will be successful.
One affirmation I say everyday is this…”I choose persistence and determination over quitting every time”. It keeps me from giving up.
Anything worth having takes effort. We live in a society where everything has to happen overnight. Many people don’t know what it is like to really have to work at anything. The greatest feat in life is knowing that you worked hard to attain it.
Keep the faith..keep it up…keep on trying…
and never, ever quit.
Wishing you love, happiness and weight loss success,
Camille
