Becoming the Person You Want to Be
By: Anthony Smith
What is Motivation?
Motivation is "the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action; the reason for the action" according to WordNet. Motivation is a psychological reason for doign something, true. But there is so much more to it than a simple psychological urge. For anyone to be successful at losing weight, motivation has to be a feature of your mind, not just a passing feeling. Motivation is a state of mind that everyone must enter on their own accord, and remain there for any weight loss program to be successful. Everyone's source of motivation is different, but one thing holds true for a vast majority of people; weight loss must be done for yourself, not for anyone else. If you attempt to lose weight without truly wanting to do it, you will most likely fail. Weight loss is one of the most difficult things a person can do, but it is also one of the most rewarding.
Why Lose Weight?
Why do you want to lose weight? Is it for a girl or guy you have your eye on? Is it for your family? Is it for yourself? Finding the right source of motivation can sometimes be as difficult as actually losing weight. Losing weight is a long and hard process that must be done for one reason above all others, you. No one else can ever make you as motivated as yourself. No matter how hard others may try to help you, the decision as to wether or not you are going to lose weight or not rests squarely on your shoulders. There is no force like your own willpower. It drives us to suceed in all things, weight loss included. If nothing else, remember that your weight loss is being done for the person who will benefit from it the most, you!
As I was growing up, I was always overweight and yet did nothing about it. One day, a little over a year ago I woke up and got out of bed. I walked into the bathroom and saw my reflection in the mirror. And it horrified me. I was exactly what I hated seeing; I was fat. I made up my mind then and there that I would lose weight. After several failed attempts at dieting and exercising, I didn't know yet how I would do it. I knew only one thing and that was I wanted to lose weight. From there it was just a matter of figuring out how to do it.
Most people try time after time to lose weight without success. The key for me was setting my mind to it, and making it the priority in my life. Now, I understand that older people that have a family to look after and a full time job can't always afford the luxury of putting weight loss first, but it is so important that you do everything possible to make it a focal point to begin with. There are so many benefits both physically and mentally to losing weight, once you begin, it will put itself in a place of prominence in your life.
Losing weight has many benefits, both physically and emotionally. When you lose weight you will feel better, this I guarantee. Our bodies are not designed to carry a lot of extra weight around and once we lose it, our bodies will thank us. Our rewards: more energy, more endurance, better looks, better heart health, and an overall sense that our bodies are working better. Emotionally it gives us: a better self-image, more self-esteem and conifdence, happiness, and it will help reduce stress as well.
How do I lose weight?
Everyone is different and will require different methods to lose weight. I have made several different attempts at losing weight, most without any success. Finally I got it right, but not without several failures. Most people fail when attempting diet programs because the programs were not designed for the person using it. One of the most important factors in determing the success of a diet/exercise program is how well the program fits your body and lifestyle. The best diet plan is one you design with a little help from others. I can only help point you in the right direction, the details have to be left up to you. Only you know what you can and cannot do.
When I began losing weight, I started simple. Starting simple is the best way for your body and your mind. A lot of dieting failures are caused by drastic changes over too short a period of time. Whenever you change your lifestlye, the changes must be gradual enough to allow the body and mind adjust, or you will slip back into old (bad) habits. The simplest way to begin a diet program (in my opinion) is to pick one unhealthy food and decide not to eat it. Pick something like candy bars or soda or something else that you can live without. Make up your mind that you are not going to eat it for a week and then follow through. For me, after that week, I no longer even had a craving for the item. You may or may not have the same reaction and if you do that is great. Otherwise, say to yourself that you will not eat that item for another week and repeat until you no longer crave that item. Once you are over one item, remove another bad food item from your diet, and replace it with something healthy. For instance, if you stop eating candy bars, try granola bars instead.
Along with this "common sense dieting" you need to start exercising. Exercise can be a daunting word for overweight people. But don't let it frighten you. There is nothing scary or mysterious about it. My advice it to begin walking for 15-20 minutes a day in the mornings while it is still cool outside. Every week, add more walking. For instance, if you begin walking 15 minutes a day for a week, during the second week, walk for 18 minutes a day, then 20 minutes a day in the third week. Continue doing this until you walk between 40-60 minutes a day. Walking is one of the greatest forms of exercise to help lose weight and it's something everyone can do without any expensive equipment or gym costs.
For me, it took about three months of walking and dieting every day to build up the courage to attempt to go to the gym. Once I began going to the gym, I realized this was the place to be. The atmosphere is very different from working out alone or in your home. Everyone around you is motivated just like you (the people who go at 5 am, along with me, seem to provide a better atmosphere than the people in the evenings) and their motivation adds to yours. Going to a gym is a very positive experience and will help you get the encouragement and results you want.
When choosing a gym (if there are any options) take a tour and get to know the owner/staff before deciding. The man who owns the gym I workout at is a great guy who provides me with encrouagement and information. The staff and the equipment are the two main features you need to look at when choosing a gym. You also need to look at the overall atmosphere of the gym. Is it a clean and pleasant place to be? Are the people around me motivated?
Don't be afraid of the gym. Overweight people are just as welcome at gyms as are muscle-bound bodybuilders. People respect you for attempting to lose weight and you will never (at least should never) hear a mean comment. Going to the gym takes resolve (especially for overweight people) and resolve breeds respect.
The keys to losing weight are very simple in nature. Exercise and eat healthily. They sound so simple, yet are so hard to achieve. The key to achieving your weight loss goal is to set both long term and short term goals. By setting a large longer-term goal and smaller short-term goals will allow you to see progress over the long-term goal and recieve immediate satisfaction by meeting the short-term goals. The short-term goals keep you happy and the long-term goals keep you on the right path to weight loss.
Dieting
The key to dieting is personalization. What do I mean by personalization? I mean tailoring a diet to your individual tastes and needs. External diets such as the Atkins and the all-protein diets will only work for certain people, not everyone. If you have attempted and failed at one of these diets, it is alright. These sort of things are set to fail from the beginning if it is not right for you. The key is finding the right method of eating healthily for YOU. One key to dieting is moderation. Never eat too much of any one thing. Not only is it not healthy, your taste buds will get tired of it, and you will reach for something unhealthy to satisfy them. Also, by making drastic eating changes too quickly, the body cannot adjust and again, you will reach for something unhealthy to eat. Make these changes gradually, after all, you'll be living with them for the rest of your new life.
One change a lot of people need to make is more water consumption. Drinking water is probably the single most effective way to help weight loss along. You should attempt to drink two liters of water a day, minumum. Most people will find this hard to do right away, but it is vital that you make this change. One tip I can offer is to drink a large glass of water before every meal. Not only will this help you get the water your body needs, it will also help fill you up faster, so you eat less. Another is carry a bottle of water with you at all times. Whenever you get thirsty for a soda, drink your water instead. Soda is full of "empty" calories or calories that don't make you feel full.
Be wary of fried foods and certain oils. One of the bad things about the US today is that everyone is in a rush and eats too much fast food. Fast food is one of the worst things you can put in your body, besides arsenic. If you must eat fast food, try to get a grilled chicken sandwich or a salad. Wendy's has great salads and chicken sandwiches as do several chains. Take that Fry Daddy you got last Christmas and throw it away. One oil that is semi-healthy is olive oil. If you have to fry or sautee something in oil, use olive oil.
Exercise
Exercise is the other vital component of weight loss. Like dieting, your exercise program needs to be personalized. Take advice from other people to get you started, but as you progress with your program, make sure you adapt it to your body's needs. After you have been walking for a while, it might be time to hit the gym and the weights.
Building muscle not only burns calories while you are doing it, but helps you burn more calories all day long. After a strenuous workout, your metabolism stays high for up to eight hours after the workout is over. Essentially, if you workout in the mornings, you are really working out all day. This is called the afterburn. This is one of the primary reasons I workout in the mornings.
Everyone will respond to weight training differently. The way I lift weights is for strength and definition. To lose weight, the best thing you can do is attempt to build larger muscles because larger muscles use more calories. To do this, you need to lift for strength. Try to add weight to whatever exercises you do every week or two. For arms and upper body, I like to do four sets of ten repetitions each and for the legs three sets of fifteen repetitions.
There is so much information on exercising and weightlifting available. Make sure you read about how to train your muscles and then put forth the effort. One very good book I have found is The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even if you aren't a bodybuilder, this book has so much great informaton about how to build muscle it is a must-have for everyone. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of this book.
My exercise philosophy is to push your body as hard as you can, without hurting it. Now, to find your limit, you might need to step over it sometimes. Just be careful the first few weeks of your new exercise program and you should be good. Put your mind to it, and your body will follow. This by no means includes doing exercise until you cannot walk, because that will only set you back. If you injure yourself, your weight loss plans can be set back. Push yourself, but do it safely.
While exercising it is important to keep a good balance. Cardiovascular work is needed to strengthen the heart and lungs and will also help burn a lot of calories. Weight training is important because by building larger muscles, you will burn more calories, even at rest, but especially while doing cardio work. I enjoy cardio work, but I love weight lifting. Weight lifting is one of those things that don't seem fun until you actually do it. The "pump" is the good feeling you get while working out. When you lift weights, you force the body to pump more blood and oxygen into the muscles and it makes you feel good. In fact, it is one of my favorite feelings. The other good feeling is the feeling of accomplishment. Lifting a heavy weight is a big confidence booster.
The mind plays a key role in exercise. Chances are if you cut your workout short or stop in the middle of a set, it's your mind that is giving up, not the body. Exercise is just as mental as it is physical. Everyone has willpower but some people need to learn to focus it. When I am working out, I visualize the muscles contracting and relaxing. This allows me to focus my energy on the muscles I am working. The process will be different for everyone, but I imagine some sort of focus on the muscles will help everyone.
Exercise is not only good for the body, it is great for the spirit. Weight lifting can be an outlet for stress or anger. I know working out helps relax me. Working out in general needs to be done with an open and clear mind in order to reap the greatest rewards from it. Don't bring outside problems into the gym; leave them outside.
Life-Long Changes
Losing weight is not simply dieting and exercising. It is a set of life-long changes that you must make to be successful. What do I mean by life-long changes? Simply put, life-long changes are changes in your lifestyle that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Making these changes will not only change your body, but your entire outlook on life as well. I know the realization of what I was doing to my body not only made me want to change my body, but it also made me change the way I look at a lot of things. Now I make decisions based on what is best for me.
These changes are things everyone is capable of. Things like not eating for two to three hours before bedtime and eating mroe vegetables are things everyone is capable of. A lot of small changes can add up to a large one. The key to making these changes is enjoying them. I enjoy eating vegetables now. By learning to enjoy these healthy changes they will be much easier to stick with. And sticking with these changes is what makes your weight loss program a success.
