| Don’t just let spring weather or a New Year’s resolution be your impetus to get into shape. Take action now!
Almost 100 million Americans are overweight. And almost all of them wish they weren’t. Unfortunately, wishing only works in fairy tales. In reality, only working out works—and only then if it is done right, and regularly.
But such regularity isn’t easy. For example, a University of Washington study found that 50 percent of New Year’s resolutions are made with the goal of weight loss in mind. Over 80 percent of them fail by February.
These resolutions fizzle so fast for one reason: motivation. Or lack thereof. Without a real motivating factor besides plain want, odds are we’re going to give up the fight before its won. We may think we know what we want…but why?
Here is a great example:
David Schaffer was a 55-year-old tax consultant who had been obese his entire life.
“I was always the ‘fat kid’ in school, and in the summer I always ended up at the ‘fat-kid’ table at camp,” David said. “By the 5th grade, I weighed over 200 pounds!”
Since then he’s only grown, maxing out at 320 pounds a year ago. At 5'9", David had a 56" waistline and wore XXXL everything! He became diabetic and had to take a handful of pills every day to stave off the symptoms of that disease. He couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without losing his breath. He couldn’t get life insurance. And, worst of all, he couldn’t participate in any of his children’s activities.
Yet with all these reasons to lose weight, David still could not find the motivation to stick to any fitness regimen. “For years, I have started a new diet every Monday,” he said. “And by Tuesday, it would be over.”
Then, over the last few years, he witnessed a good friend lose control of his own weight problem, lose a foot to diabetes, and ultimately, lose his life to the disease at the age of 47. David took a good long look at himself in the mirror and saw the same fate waiting for him. And he decided to take action once and for all.
“Last winter, I told my daughter that the same time next year, I would go snow tubing with her instead of having to watch,” David recalled. “She said, ‘Yeah, right.’” And with that, David became dedicated. Truly realizing for the first time what he was missing, he joined a gym near his home, and also hired a personal trainer.
He knew he was in for a heck of a climb, but he finally had something to reach for. And so his commitment has never been in question ever since. He has worked out 5 days a week, doing a combination of aerobic training, muscle strengthening, and stretching. He has completely transformed his diet, and now takes zero pills a day (except daily multi-vitamins). His waist is now just 38", and he no longer has to shop at the Big & Tall stores. Ultimately, according to his doctor, David’s body is in far better health than it was before the transition began.
In the course of the year he began his new lifestyle changes, David has lost exactly 114 pounds, and was closing in on his ultimate goal. “I’ve always wanted to be ‘one’ something,” David said, referring to the hundreds column of his total weight. He has just 7 pounds to go. And that’s not even the good news.
The good news is that David now has the motivation to reach his goals. And that’s something he’ll never lose.
What’s your motivation? -- PC
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