On Monday, I'm starting the 'Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation Challenge.' An internet based program created by one of the personal trainers on 'The Biggest Loser.' For $200, you get a formatted exercise regime, menu plan and recipes to cook your 'menu plan', plus a diary to log your progress and show ALL the other '12 Week Body Transformation Challengers.' You also get support from Michelle and can vent your frustrations and joy on the forum. One of the pre-season training requirements is to 'say it out loud,' which means telling everyone that you know that you are doing this challenge, making you more accountable for your weight loss over the next 12 weeks. So here I am, telling all my loyal readers!
But it has made me think, how do we get here? How do we get to the point of putting on unwanted pounds? Is it because we are unhappy in ourselves, unhappy in our relationship, unhappy in our lifestyle? Are we working too hard, so we skip meals but then over do it at the wrong time of day? Are we forgetting to exercise?
For me, this year has been a stressful one... stress in my relationship, stress in my circumstances that what I wanted to happen this year just didn't eventuate and I had to change tact. Because of it all, I have sat at home wallowing in my self-defeat and forgetting to get out and move about. I will say, I've put on 7 kilos in the past 8 months, which is just horrendous, but I'm hoping to drop 15 kilos by Christmas... now that's a challenge! I'm ready to be get moving and motivated! I'm in the right headspace to do so...
It's funny though, I've known a couple of men who had porked on the pounds by excessive drinking and socialising over the years, then decided to do something about it. Not sure if they had relationship issues when they were excessively obese, but as soon as that weight came off (one of them has lost 70kgs), they certainly had relationship issues then! Both of them started having affairs as their wives didn't like their newly-found confidence in their husbands (possibly because they were not happy in their own skin and were jealous of their husbands' achievements), and the men were getting noticed. They realised what was missing in their relationship, love, compassion, lust and enjoyment of being a lover rather than a business partner in a marriage with the common interest of children. One of the men had the courage to leave his wife after his misdemeanour, the other is still trying to resurrect his marriage with date nights with his wife, gifts and spending genuine time together talking, but he's still got the girlfriend on the side.
So why does our weight bear a hinderance on who we are? Are all the layers of fat hiding the real person in side, the person who is screaming to get out but there are too many folds for anyone to listen? I think the first thing to realise is that we did this to ourselves... we can't blame anyone else, we didn't have the confidence to make an emotional stand for what we believe in, therefore those who trampled on our self-esteem got away with it, and we tend to provide comfort to ourselves via an escape through chocolate biscuits, candy, alcohol and greasy take-out food.
The key to a healthy life is to make exercise part of our day, like getting out of bed. I know I was at my best when I was running on the beach everyday - my personality was more exuberant, my confidence more electric and my mind was clear with what I needed to do in a day. Over the last few months, I have just feel so disorganised, unmotivated and clogged up with so much crap going on in my head, I had no idea what I wanted. But now, I'm ready to move on.
I have all my exercise equipment, my fitness DVDs, my food scales, a new wok to cook my delicious meals in, my pedometer, I've organised my workspace, got folders for my exercise program and recipes, and I'm raring to go. All I need to do now is my initial weigh in, fitness test and measurements so I can do that tragic before shot to see the transformation into the inspiring after shot.
So wish me luck, I will write a blog once a week on my progress with other incidental blogs in between. I hope I can inspire others to make a difference in their lives too. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment