We have all made them.
“I’m busy.”
“I don’t have the right foods.”
“I don’t have time for my full work out so I might as well not work out at all today.”
“I have to go to a party so I will indulge now and start my diet tomorrow.”
“I had a bad day.”
Or my favorite (one which I use frequently) “I’m too tired” (to lift weights, ride my bike, eat an apple, go for a walk, play with my kids.)
We are too (busy / tired / depressed) to take care of our health and our weight, and yet we make time for everything, and everyone else. (Americans watch nearly five hours of television every – single – day.)
Watch THIS VIDEO from Nike. It may help you put those excuses to rest. Take out a notebook and write your own excuses down. Borrow some from the video if you’d like. Read over your list, then look back at something you really wanted (a new car, that fabulous jacket, the European vacation, the widescreen TV). Would you let the same list of excuses stand in your way? Would you allow those same reasons keep you from getting what you wanted? Or would you make every effort possible to overcome ANY obstacle?
Think about it.
I’ve used most of these myself – have you?
I just read a forum post with that title. The poster talks about being fat, how disgusted she is with her weight, and gives people her diet plan for “tomorrow.”
Will she make it? Probably not. Because planning to lose weight tomorrow doesn’t ensure success – it ensures failure. Waiting for tomorrow is how I gained almost 90 pounds. Because every day I waited for tomorrow gave me a whole extra day to eat whatever I wanted…license to eat everything that was not nailed down. Eat, eat, eat, gorge, gorge, gorge. Because tomorrow – that magical tomorrow – I would start my diet. Finally be thin. The following day, when I “blew it” and hated myself bitterly, I would plan to start the next tomorrow. And so on. Day after day. Year after year. Pound after pound. Tomorrow after tomorrow.
How did I finally change? How did I finally succeed? By starting today. This minute. This meal. NOW. Not tomorrow. It was difficult. I would rather have waited for yet another tomorrow, one full of empty promises to myself. But the tomorrows had never materialized, so I forced my tomorrow to start today. Finally took control of my own life – and succeeded.
When will your tomorrow start?
It is common knowledge that a healthy diet for weight loss consists of lots of fruits and vegetables, plenty of water, unprocessed foods and loads of fiber. But if I told you that pizza is part of the equation, would you believe it? If I told you pizza is a health food would you buy it?
Refined carbs (including pizza), soda, alcohol and candy are all persona non grata in the health arena. Caffeine, sugar and fat are on our “bad” lists, as is eating late at night. And yet, just two weeks ago I found myself driving home at 1 a.m., eating five-hour cold greasy pizza out of a box in the backseat of my car, and stopping at a fast food joint for fully caffeinated coffee in the middle of the night. How does a personal trainer justify that? Easily. And would she recommend it to her clients? Definitely. With the following disclaimer, of course.
Continue reading ‘Making Pizza Part of Your Diet’
