As a fitness professional I hear often "If I could just lose 20 pounds, then I would be happy,” “If I could just be back to pre-baby weight, I would be happy and feel good again,” “I will be happy once I am back in shape.” The problem is it doesn’t work that way. You have it backwards. You can’t come from a place of lack and get abundance. You can’t come from a place of unhappy, and be happy. You have to BE happy first. You have to feel abundance in health first. This is when people go to extreme measures and usually fail big time because their goal is too big. I see clients lose 8lbs but instead of celebrating this accomplishment they are mad that they didn’t lose 10lbs. Instead, they see themselves as a failure. It is important to set personal health and fitness goals, YES. But happiness starts on the inside. Health is an inside job. Instead we all want to start on the outside. If you are coming from a place of not being good enough, thin enough, the right size, then you are going to stay stuck. You have to work on being happy and loving yourself right where you are at this moment. This must happen first. Coming from this approach helps you feel more motivation and energy to make the choices you need daily to be at your healthiest self. Otherwise you are in a vicious downward cycle. Happiness isn’t from reaching certain goals.. "I will be happy when I weigh"…. "I will be happy when I have this much money" or that certain relationship. When you come from this place, you are not letting yourself be happy right now! Your body is meant to be a reflection of your spirit. Program yourself to think and behave in ways that are healthy and strong right now, and the weight will disappear. Focus on what you want not what you don’t want. Focus on weight you get more weight. Focus on health, energy, and being happy and you get these things. Set attainable goals. Start with what you can do today towards your health. Celebrate your successes. Do your part, and be happy now. The rest will come as a result. Be realistic about what you want to accomplish.
“Discipline isn’t about denying yourself. It’s about giving to yourself. It is about gaining not losing. Every day that I get up and go to the gym, even if it’s difficult and I would rather stay in bed, I think about what I will gain from going and what I will lose if I don’t. Nine times out of ten I will only gain by going and lose by not going. Discipline is always a gain in the tally of life. Days I don’t want to go, I go for ten minutes. The fact is that I got there and that’s what matters. At the end of the day, be able to say I did the best that I could. It’s about taking care of yourself…” -- Cameron Diaz in an interview for her new book The Body Book: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body.