Mind over Matter (you can do this!)

arhee

Hi all, I really wanted to share an extremely important part of fitness and permanent weight loss. Your state of mind. A sound and successful weight loss program and lifestyle will not work if your state of mind is not there 100%. Quite a few diet programs often tackle your inner state of mind before they start talking about exercise and food and for very good reason. If you really want to have the body that you want, and don't we all, there can't be any external things going on in your life which will prevent you from focusing on your fitness goal 100%. You have to be so focused, dedicated and almost obsessed with what you eat and how you exercise. If you have personal issues that are more important going on, then you have to deal with that first and foremost. Put the diet and exercise aside, and tackle all the personal stuff that is going on in the background.

If you have children who are having problems and they need your help, if you are going through a divorce, if you are going through difficult financial worries, you must deal with them first. It's so important to keep your mind absolutely free and clear of burdens before you can fully dedicate yourself to a change in your lifestyle. I know that a lot of you might disagree with this reasoning and think that anything you can do here and there will help, such as cutting back on fatty foods, exercising a bit here and there. And while I do not disagree with this, I don't think it will help in the long run. Whatever personal issue is still plaguing your mind, it will cause you to fall back on comfort food or push exercise aside, which will make whatever effort you put in a wasted effort.

From my own personal experience, I have found that clearing your mind and dedicating 110% to your diet and exercise program is the only way to successfully keep the weight off and finally achieve the body you have always wanted. When you are ready, and fully dedicated, you will look at your current eating habits and clean it up. You will look at your body and ask yourself what goals you want to reach for your body and design a fitness program that works for you. Once these efforts are put into practice, you have begun your lifestyle and you realize that its not as difficult as you thought it would be. The reason its not as difficult as you thought is because you don't have any external things to worry about on top of everything else. After about a month of successfully changing your lifestyle, you find that its simple and you can no longer imagine that it was ever that difficult. And finally once you have this lifestyle down to a tee, maybe after a few months, any issue that would potentially come up and take over your life will no longer burden your fitness program because now, it has become part of your lifestyle. It's not something you would change now. Because you are now seeing the benefits from your hard work, you are becoming more motivated at what you see in the mirror and people's compliments.

Think about it, when you have things to deal with such as divorce, relationship problems, problems with kids, financial worries, did you stop putting your clothes on every day? Did you stop brushing your teeth? Did you stop driving yourself to work? No, because these are all things you must do, its part of your lifestyle. And this new lifestyle is no different to doing any of the daily tasks you face.

Since I was 19, I always wanted the body of a figure/fitness model. I always thought that muscular arms and tight waist were so attractive. I was never into the skinny celebrity type body because it was not attractive to me. I wanted a very specific type of body and I knew that genetically I was blessed with an hourglass figure which had enormous potential. I started working out quite heavily when I was 19 but I wasn't seeing any results close to my goal. I am also blessed to be naturally slim, no matter what I ate, it wouldn't affect my weight more than 5 pounds. However, that kept me being what I like to call "skinny fat". I had bingo wings, a pudgy lower belly and chunky inner thighs. Back then I wasn't so educated about nutrition or proper exercise form. I also now realized that I couldn't give up my carbohydrates. I love white rice, pizza and pasta and could never get enough. I just thought that if I kept exercising I could eat whatever I wanted. I was so naive back then.

Now, 15 years later after all I know, I am now finally putting all into practice. I was so interested in nutrition and exercise, I studied all about it, read every article I could get my hands on. I knew it was all about eating less and moving more. I was still not willing to give up my rice and pasta and knew in the back of my head that I had to give this food up no matter what. Every time I went out to eat at a restaurant, I would see chicken and salad as a dish and think, I should really order this. But in the end, I always gave into the rice, pasta and comfort food dish. I just couldn't help it. I basically had to re-train my mind to think a different way and manipulate my mind into thinking I wanted the chicken and salad instead. One day, however, in June 2010, I sat down and my mind won. I started by cutting out all processed carbohydrates out of my diet and upping my protein and vegetables. I had this for every meal and by the end of July, I noticed a huge transformation. I dropped 17 pounds and started seeing the muscle underneath all the fat. When I saw the results, it was not hard to keep it up. I found that I got very satisfied by eating just lean protein and plenty of vegetables. I didn't need the starchy carbohydrate side dish anymore. Another pleasant surprise I got was that I was no longer bloated. I used to get pretty bloated after every meal, but now I still feel light and flat after each meal, which is worth the change in lifestyle in itself. Bloating is such an uncomfortable feeling and I didn't realize just how burdensome it was until I made this change.

My body is still in a state of transformation, its gradual but getting there. I am stronger now, I see the definition and cuts in my arms now, my six pack is just starting to show, and I am just happy all around. My goal of being able to compete in a figure competition is coming true on a day by day basis. My confidence level has gone up big time, and people are now motivated by me. It is such an amazing place to be and I know that everyone can do this, especially if I could. It is so important at this moment, to really evaluate your life, make sure that you have everything sorted before you dedicate yourself fully to your new lifestyle change.

If I can do it, so can you! It's mind over matter.

sherry_80

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