Over the years I’ve had a good number of clients who’ve tipped the scales at 400+ pounds.
In fact, yesterday I met with a man, C.B., who weighed 444.8 pounds just six weeks ago, and he’s already down 30 pounds.
I mentioned to him that many people today appear to be living in a reality tee-vee show called “Keeping up with the Lardassians.” He agreed, saying, “I’ll bet a lot of people would watch that show just to see people eat.”
Anyway, as I was advising C.B., I noticed how the enormity of his weight loss goal was weighing him down. Despite having already lost 30 pounds, when he looked at the fact that he has 175 pounds to go, the goal was overwhelming.
So I told him, “I didn’t tell you to set a goal to lose another 175 pounds, did I?
“No,” C.B. said. “I came up with that on my own.”
“And that’s why you’re overwhelmed,” I added.
I then told C.B. NOT to focus on the 175 pounds he has left to lose. Instead, I told him to focus on the positive, the “gain” of dropping one pound at a time.
Guess what happened when he heard this?
He let go of the angst and tension in his neck and shoulders and relaxed.
He smiled and said, “I can do that. That’s a lot easier. It’s not so heavy. It doesn’t weigh on my mind.”
“And if your goal isn’t weighing on you, if it’s not so heavy, neither will you be,” I said.
You may not want to hear this, but I’ll say it anyway.
Your mindset is everything when it comes to weight loss, weight gain, getting stronger, becoming more flexible, running a marathon, or whatever your goal is. All progress and all failure begins in the upper room of your mind.
But the trouble with mindset books and coaches is that they want you to set big goals, goals that scare you, goals that can take years to accomplish.
It’s dumb, dumber and dumbest all wrapped up in a package you hope will be delivered in the future – while not taking care of what’s standing in front of you, in the here and now.
Focus on the small stuff you can do each day and it’ll eventually add up to a mighty big accomplishment.
Here endeth the lesson!
Matt Furey
Where to get started, exercise wise, if you’re waaaaaay over-weight?
Answer: I suggest you get yourself going with Warrior Walking – it’s a weight changer.
