Hey there, fatty. Looks like you need to take up running.
Hey, you know what you should try? You should eat less, and exercise more.
Thanks for that little gem of wisdom, I totally didn’t know that. Like, really? No, not at all. Idiot.
It’s all about input vs. output when it comes to diet and exercise.
I want to input my foot into your a*s and watch you try and output it.
Do the people in our lives that share their words of wisdom think they are helping?
Think they are inspiring?
How? And to who? Who doesn’t know this stuff?
My conclusion is yes, they are coming from a place of love, for the most part.
Others are know-it-alls, and need us to know it.
Others still are mindlessly fulfilling social norms and regurgitating what they have heard.
I gained weight because I forgot how to eat well and exercise.
Said no woman ever. Or man, for that matter.
Every weight loss program, no matter how positively it’s packaged, whispers to us that we are not right.
We are not good enough.
We are not unacceptable as we are.
We are broken.
We need to be fixed.
Here are some of my favourites.
The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen.
Someone busier than you is running right now.
If you have 30 minutes for Facebook, you have one hour for the gym.
Fundamentally, you are whole, complete and perfect as you are.
You are not broken.
You do not need fixing.
However, there might be some behaviours — conscious or unconscious — which are unworkable for your life.
How do we know they are un-workable?
We say we want one thing,
Yet we do something which has a direct consequence—
Otherwise known as a result—
Which is the opposite of what we say we want.
It can feel problematic.
It is usually when we want two things in conflict with each other.
I want to eat that delicious cupcake, and I really want to lose some weight.
I want to sleep in, and I really want to stick to my exercise plan and get fit & healthy.
Feel familiar?
We often want to reach our goal weight, fast.
Like right now; like yesterday.
We are so often used to instant gratification and getting what we want in an instant, we can forget that some things do take time and consistency.
So we vow to go to the gym for 2 hours every day, or go twice a day.
Or promise ourselves to lose 10kg or 20lb by the end of the month.
Taking this approach to weight loss won’t work.
Drastic, over-the-top plans won’t take us to our goals.
Instead, take small steps toward a realistic goal.
They will keep us moving steadily forward. Consistency is key!
It may take longer than we would like, but we are much more likely to stick with our plan.
Here are some ideas:
Add one more day of exercise to your week, and stick with it for a month.
Add one more glass of water to your day over the course of a week; it will help you feel fuller.
Go to bed 5 minutes early every day for a week until you’re hitting the sack about 8 hours before you have to wake.
A Tiny Habits Recipe I created with this in mind:
After I pour myself a cup of coffee or tea, I will pour and sip a glass of water.
