I have it, now what?

Last week we agreed that deciding to be fit in the mind, is the first part of a fitness journey. The second part of fitness helps to solidify the why. WHY decide to go for Fitness?

Have you wondered why a lot of times people get the wrong answer for a right question? For instance, a little boy dropped an expensive glass cup his grandma had given to his mom; his mom asked, “Why did you do that?” Looking up with sad eyes, the boy answered, “I don’t know”. He is right, but that is the wrong answer (to the mom who is curious and angry). The mom asked the right question about the right thing, but asked the question in the wrong way. If she asked “how did it happen?” The boy will probably tell her “Mama I tried to see why you yelled, and then the cup slipped from my hands and broke – I am sorry, so very sorry”. The question “Why” is very abstract in the minds of children, so they do not know the answers to the “whys” people ask.

Likewise, asking yourself why you want to change your body, is probably not as effective as “WHAT WOULD I DO WITH THE BODY WHEN I HAVE IT?” Why is the later question effective? Because it deals with functions and it is not abstract. Knowing what to do with the body gives us motivation when the heart gets weary.

The Bible says if you have a talent and you don’t use it, it will be taken away and given to the person who knows how to use the talent (parable of talents). Therefore, we can say that if you do not want to lose your body you must use it. If you stop any Kilgore College Rangerette and ask her “why do you wake up 1 – 2hours before class to go workout with your trainer, do extra cardio for 30 – 45 minutes twice every week, and practice 4-5hrs after class every day?”, she would tell you she works out so her body will be ready to perform in an excellent manner in any show. Similarly, ask a football player, “why do Two-A-Days workouts?” the answer might be to get ready for a game. A more sarcastic answer will be “would you want to pay to come watch us lose?” What would you do with your body when you have it the way you want it?

Action Plan

Grab a piece of paper and pen, and then write this on the top of the paper. “Things I would do with a Fit, Strong and Energized body.” I prefer the question method. What would I do with a fit, strong and healthy body? Then sit down and turn on your thinking cap.

Write everything that comes to mind. Literarily write everything. Here are a few of the answers I have seen: hiking, biking, playing flag football, playing baseball with my grand kids, water ski, travel, mission trip, marathon, triathlon, dancing, … the list is endless.

Next week

Now that we have decided what we want from our workouts, we will cover the price next week: The price to pay for fitness.

Deciding in the Mind

Have you asked yourself why you set a goal to become healthy and never achieve that goal as planned? What is the answer you come up with? It is important to remember it is okay to ask yourself this question; however, it is imperative that when you ask yourself why you never achieve your target fitness goal, you also need to consider your answer. Some of the answers I am familiar with include:
“It is because I am weak”
“It is because I have bad genes”
“It is because exercise and diet is hard”
“It is because I don’t have time”
“Living healthy is not for me, I am just not fit.”
I have frequently asked myself WHY is it that over 90 percent of the people I have worked with are not patient enough to see results; WHY is it that most people cannot shake off their habits of food and inactivity; WHY is it that a 60 year old achieved her goal of losing 70 pounds, when some people struggle to lose 10 pounds? Why is it that another individual achieved her weight loss goal in 60 days, but struggled with her weight for three years prior to that loss? Here is what I discovered:
The number one reason I found many people struggle with their weight goals is most do not decide in their MIND what they want to accomplish before starting a workout program. That is the one key factor: Lack of a clear decision for what is wanted. Oftentimes people never make it IMPERATIVE; we make it important, but not IMPERATIVE. Attainment of your goal requires persistence and patience.
The debate of needing to be fit begins in the mind. Yes, overcoming the obstacles of attaining fitness is also in the mind, (there is muscle pain and fatigue to contend with during the initial phase of any program) but in the long run the fatigue fades and you are left with overcoming a mental debate: “Should I do this again or forget it?!”
Have you had the privilege of watching kids perform a task? You should have been there with me one evening as I watched my niece (Naomi) who saw her toy roll under our couch; Naomi, barely 13 months old, did all she could to retrieve her toy, with no positive result ‐ so she resulted to crying. My sister unaware of what happened picked her up and consoled and fed her, and then she fell asleep. But early in the morning, while I was watching ESPN, she came running as fast as she could to the couch. She fell three times on her way to the couch, to her that was nothing. She got to couch and started looking. She lay on the floor and stretched her arms but couldn’t reach what she was searching for. I know she couldn’t see the toy, but she knew it was there and that is all that mattered to her. About 15minutes later she stopped and just lay there with one arm under the couch. My sister walked in and with a surprised look asked, “What are you doing?” Naomi began to cry, looking at where she knew her toy was; when my sister reached and pulled the toy out, You should have see the priceless smile on Naomi’s face.
I did not see the lesson in the event until later on. Most people spend years getting out of shape and want to lose it all in a matter of 4 weeks or 8 weeks; there is a price for physical fitness, it is not magic and it takes time. There is a huge difference between looking fit and being fit. Some people look like they are fit because they are “cut”, “ripped”, “built”, or “thin” but they cannot perform daily functional activities. That event with Naomi reminded me that persistence on a task until it is accomplished is essential. It also made me realize that patience is a vital key in attaining any goal.
There are several means of achieving a weight loss goal and also achieving fitness. Shortcuts have their price, so also does persistent and patient actions. As you decide and make up your mind on what you want, have these two characteristics at the back of your minds: PERSISTENCE AND PATIENCE.

Action plan

Sit down with paper and pen and decide what you want to look like. Picture yourself that way, if you have a past picture pull it up; if there is someone you want to look like, print a picture of that person. If you want to weigh a certain amount – write that weight down. DESCRIBE YOUR DECISION.
While doing the above you might find yourself coming up with all the excuses and reason why things have not worked out in the past. You can write those down too. If you know all your excuses, you will learn to identify them when you try to fall back on those bad habits.

Next time we will discuss “What would you do with the health”?