I heard a commercial on the radio the other day about someone having the "Secret to weight loss". I started thinking about it and there are a lot of commercials, pop ups, and diets that seem to all have this secret to weight loss. After hearing that commercial all I could think was I've got your "Secret" right here..... PATIENCE!! That's right, patience. I think that we are just way too focused on what it going to get them the fastest results. Course we are trained by our culture to want everything and have to get it right now!! I think we are missing the boat when we think this way about weight loss. Sure some of these methods of weight loss will in fact get you results but that doesn't mean they are going to stick forever. Regardless of their effectiveness how long are you going to want to live eating like they tell you to or how many wacky exercise gadgets are you going to buy..... "Shake Weight" anyone??
I read this book by Jeff Olson called The Slight Edge that has given me a lot of perspective about not only fitness but my outlook on life in general. His general idea is "compound interest" meaning when you make the right choices you're not going to see results right away. It's all about making those choices everyday and them adding up over time. These choices are easy to do and equally as easy not to do. When I really think about my workouts the hardest part is either getting there to the gym or pushing play on my dvd player. These are both easy to do and not to do and that makes all the difference in how I feel about my week when I look back.
After reading this book I have a different outlook on my future in my weight loss goals. I'm not looking for the fast fix, I'm looking for the fix that's going to last for the rest of my life. A long term outlook on my fitness allows me to not stress so much about it. I don't breakdown because I had a cookie and broke my "diet". I see that as one time I didn't make the right choice. It makes it easier to keep moving and keep pushing toward a more healthy "Me".
Isn't that what fitness is all about anyway?? Just learning to be healthy?
