Monday Motivation

This is the place where every Monday I provide an article related to the issue of motivation for weight loss. Let's be honest, there are countless ways that one can lose weight. Typically this involves a combination of exercise and diet. The question isn't so much as to how to lose weight, but how to be motivated to lose weight and keep it off. That is what I am discussing here. 

Fail Like an Olympian

I watched the summer Olympics this past weekend and I felt like an Olympian, and not for their accomplishments but because of their failures. In men's gymnastics competition there were falls from the pommel horse. In women's there were falls from the balance beam.  

Every 4 years when the summer Olympics are held I am fascinated by the gymnastics programs. My appreciation for the talent on the television is just because the men and women are amazingly talented, but because in a high school gym class we had a section on gymnastics where we had to attempt (emphasis on attempt) to use all of the devices used in the Olympics. The competitors in the Olympics make their unbelievable routines look easy. Having attempted, and failed, to make the smallest of moves on the pommel horse, I am in awe of what the men do on that device. 

My appreciation for the talent of these Olympians is only surpassed by how impressive they are when they respond to setbacks. I cannot imagine all of the practice and talent that goes into being able to compete on the balance beam or the pommel horse. When these athletes fall on the biggest stage that they have worked 4 years to be on, they take breath and get back on the device and finish what they started. Amazing. 

When I fail at my task of trying to lose weight I am easily tempted to throw in the towel and give up. I've lost 20 pounds in recent months, which I'm really excited about. Then I have a weekend where I gain nearly 5 pounds and I am ready to throw away all of my progress and give up. 

How fantastic to have an example of athletes who have the world watching what they do and they don't give up. If they can keep going, why can't I? I need to follow the example of these champions who are competing at the highest level of their sport. If they can keep going when the world is watching, I need to keep going when no one is watching. 

Key Value Proposition

When I feel like I've failed, keep going, don't give up, and fight through the temptation to quit because better days are ahead. 

Almost Half of Cancer Deaths Could Be Prevented

A major study from the American Cancer Society reveals that nearly half of all cancer cases and deaths could be prevented with lifestyle changes. We all know that smoking is a major cause of cancer, but do we realize the role these other factors play as risk factors for cancer: excess body weight, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and diet? 

The good news is that we can make changes in all of these areas and greatly reduce our risk of cancer. 

Key Value Proposition

You have the power to change your destiny, so educate yourself and take action. 

This Demands Urgency

We live our lives according to the lie that we can live anyway we want today and tomorrow we will do what is necessary to change.  I know that has been the way I have thought for most of my life. The problem is that tomorrow never comes and I never consistently do what I need to change. My mindset has to change, today.

I am writing this on Father's Day, 2024. My family blesses me by their loving words and actions and I appreciate them all. I think of what a blessing they are and I am so glad for the life I have. But there is a problem that no one acknowledges: the elephant in the room. It is my weight. I am the elephant in the room that my family is too nice to say anything about. It is time for me to face reality. 

I am obese, and have been for most of my adult life. For many years I have been, according the the U.S. Government, morbidly obese. I weight about 50 pounds less now than I did at my heaviest, so I am no longer morbidly obese, but I am still obese. I am 6'3" and 275 pounds. At my heaviest I was 333 pounds. I can't be happy just because I am no longer morbidly obese. I need to be healthy. 

I am playing a dangerous game and it needs to stop. Just because I can live a functional life at the weight I am doesn't mean that I should. I need to change while I still can, while I have the ability to. I am 57 years old and I need to realize that I am living on borrowed time. 

I am selfish. This is painful for me to acknowledge, but it is the truth. I have chosen to eat too much food and to not exercise enough because of laziness and selfishness. I need to stop this behavior immediately. This isn't just a matter of what I'm doing to my body, it is an issue of how I relate to my family. I'm not giving them my best, and it pains me to acknowledge this, especially on Father's Day. 

So, the matter is urgent. I need to face my issues with urgency or they won't be faced at all. This doesn't mean that I will lose all of my weight and get healthy immediately. It just means that I need to look at each day as an opportunity to be better, to get better, to become healthier. Today is the day, not tomorrow. This matter is urgent. 

Key Value Proposition

Today is the day to act, not tomorrow. Be urgent in taking your health seriously. 

The Problem of Great Expectations

Every time I start on a journey to improve my health I have great expectations. I imagine how much weight I'm going to lose, and more significantly, how quickly I'm going to lose it. These great expectations are exciting and motivating as long as I'm making great progress. When the inevitable setbacks occur then these great expectations backfire. So what is a person to do?

It is hard to be motivated to start on a journey of weight loss without having great expectations, but if they are going to sabotage success then a different approach needs to be taken. The focus needs to change from great expectations of outcomes an to a focus on process. What am I doing on a daily basis to lose weight? Results follow action, so I need to ask what actions am I doing to bring about the results?

Changing focus is liberating, and it shouldn't be painful, but that doesn't mean that it is easy. Just like old habits are hard to break, so to is changing focus. You have to continually remind yourself to take your eyes off of the huge outcome you want and to think about the activities you are doing on a daily, or moment by moment basis to bring about results. Just like developing any habit, the more you do it the more natural it will be and the more it will happen. Write reminders to 

Key Value Proposition

Stop focussing on the huge improvements you want to make and focus instead on the daily habits and the processes that bring about the results you want to see.