By It has a lot more to do with something other than food and exercise
Please stick with me on this one, as I will test you a little bit. Have you got some big arse goals for the future? Is one of them to lose weight or change your body shape? This is the first step that helps you put one foot in front of the other towards building momentum. As valuable as it is to have that one big, primary goal, we also have to find a driver that keeps us going — especially when times get rough. Without a doubt, these following points keep me on the right path, no matter what circumstances try to deter me. Although this might take a little getting used to, it works exceptionally well. First, you have to build some trust within yourself, and with that trust comes fort the knowing that you are, in fact, your own best friend and biggest cheerleader in life. Let’s get to it.
What is better than an overall goal?
As stated above, the best part of a goal is the starting point. But I have a question for you. What happens when you attain that goal — then what? Life isn’t as exciting as it once was when you started the journey. But, you had an intention, a point to which you kept moving ahead. It was all so exciting in the beginning when the results started manifesting externally. People would compliment you, and you finally walked the weight loss talk. Then the goal happens, and crickets. Silence is grand, and the only thing screaming at you is to take a little bit of that cake. One bite won’t hurt. You’ve been dieting for so long, after all. This is where things get a little complicated — and I’ve been a survivor of the dreaded weight loss boredom end of the stick. I believe this is what get’s people back into their old patterns of behaviour. But, unfortunately, it can lead us back to square one again.
Where to from here then?
Good question, because there is something a LOT more compelling than just losing weight, which will differ according to you as an individual. I want you to look deep within yourself to find the answer. To help you, I’ll share my private journey to understand the depth of my conviction. My dedication to weight loss has less to do with what the scales say and how low my body fat is. A bit of history behind the motive at hand. When I mention thinking deeply, I ask you to go well within yourself. My dedication stems from a history of health problems that started as a child. I was allergic to almost everything, and my dieting journey began at twelve years old. I began an elimination diet for three months. This, coupled with immune therapy, worked well. The only problem was that I didn’t know much about eating well (who does at that age), and neither did my immigrant parents. So, I was subjecting myself to a vegetarian diet filled with things I shouldn’t have eaten. Therefore, I became well, but I felt less than ideal. Key point: Knowing how bad sick feels you the leverage to keep finding ways to eliminate that sickness and lethargy that backs it up.
I’ve rapidly increased my dedication due to the passing away of my parents from cancer. My father passed away first from smoking and drinking. He also didn’t watch what he ate (although it was never prominent in any sense), but his diet mainly was processed meats and a bit more meat after that too! Mum passed away last year from pancreatic cancer. She had been a coeliac for most of her life, eating so-called “gluten-free foods” filled with endless sugar. Her pancreas started to deteriorate in her 80s. She also had a less than ideal diet. Then, when she was diagnosed with diabetes, I put her on a fasting diet and got her to skip breakfast — eating primarily veggies, smoothies and fats. It worked very well because she lost 14kgs and managed to control her diabetes without medication.But that wasn’t enough. Unfortunately — excessive sugar consumption throughout the years had sealed the damage. Mum developed a cyst that grew at a rapid rate blocking bile flow. The stent she had became blocked and stopped the bile flow. She died peacefully, but not without suffering. As much as I hate to give you these gory details, It was part of my journey towards peak health. Whilst mum was in her final stages of life, her organs stopped working, and all that was left to work was her strong heart. That aroma of decaying organs will never leave me — it’s awful. It felt like I was re-living the scent & scenery of my father’s death. I’m telling you this to understand the depth of my dedication towards health here. Don’t worry; It’s unnecessary to experience the death of a family member or hideous health problems to develop a more profound and long-standing goal. You have to look within to find out what having better health will do for you now and in the future if you keep working at it.
- Will it help you stay on earth long enough to see your kids?
- Will it help you eliminate the chances of disease?
- Will it help stop any family history of health problems — and we all have these.
- Will it give you a better quality of life to be as active as possible?
- Will you spend your retirement travelling the world and enjoying life?
I don’t know what it is for you, but it has to be something your heart is attached to and more in line with love. What would be your ultimate best life from this moment onwards? What would you like to do with your entire lifetime?
Why this is important
It’s essential for the simple fact that having your health will allow you to lead the best possible life. I don’t know about you, but being in top shape, eating well, and feeling great is beautiful. I hate being sick or at the mercy of doctors, tablets and nurses. I want to be in charge of my own life — to have an active mind that works to its total capacity, rather than being anything less than what I could be.
Key take away
To live your best life, you must be in the best health possible. The cure for many diseases and ailments stems from nourishing food, rest and exercise. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to adopt these habits into a routine. No one can guarantee you will have the best health, despite your efforts with diet and exercise. But I can tell you one thing — you have a better chance at fighting anything if you have that backup of health to use as leverage. I can speak to you about foods, weight training and sprints — but all that doesn’t matter. You will get to a point in your life when this weight loss journey becomes too hard; you get tired and lose motivation. But, if you think about health as life long journey towards being your best self, nothing can or will get in your way. So, you will continue to make positive nutritional and exercise choices to keep working towards that goal. Yes, there may come a time you get sidetracked — but that big arse lifetime goal will push you right back in the right place. So, tell me, what is your vast heart goal?
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