by Kerry Taylor
Did you ever have a time where you wanted to help someone, but they wouldn't let you? I went to a cookout at a friend's house, and one of his friends knew that I owned a gym. We got into a discussion about him wanting to lose weight. I answered some of his questions and gave him some advice. The conversation went in circles, and by the end I found myself very frustrated. Just to give you an idea of what it went like:
Me:
Why don't you try to prepare all your lunches for the week on the weekend?
Him:
That will take up too much time.
Me:
How about you try it next week and see how it goes? It will lessen your chances of going out and getting the usual, which has contributed to getting you where you are now.
Him:
Well, I would rather workout for an extra hour or two to make up for my bad eating.
Me:
But, you said you don't have any time.
Him:
Well, I will find the time to get the workout in.
Me:
How about you raise the intensity of the workout and shorten it a bit? That way, you can spend some of that time preparing a good meal for yourself.
Him:
I don't like to get too crazy when I workout.
Me:
I don't mean get crazy. All I'm saying is raise the intensity a little bit. For example, if your goal is to run a mile, try to run it in a little bit faster time than usual. Even if it's 5 seconds faster.
Him:
But...
I'm sure you can figure out how the rest of this conversation went. Eventually, I just excused myself and told him to give me a call when he is truly ready to lose weight and I will be happy to help as best as I can. The more I reflect on the conversation, I realize that a lot of what he said is more common than not. We all have goals, but it seems that there is always something preventing us from achieving some of the things we want. The main thing is usually the person in the mirror. We all have to find a way to get out of our own way. Next time you're in the bathroom, have a private conversation with yourself about how you're going to make things happen. Say out loud how it's going to happen. I have these conversations with myself every once in a while to get a little pumped up and focused. Hmmm, maybe that would explain some things...
Til next time, get out of your own way. The mirror is waiting.