Starting Over or just Standing Still

“I’m starting my weight loss program today”

“I’m back on track…starting today”

Eventuall you have to leave the starting box...

Being in a perpetual starting position is just another way of saying that you’re standing still. You may recognize what I’m saying about those people around you who are always ‘just starting’ something.

But those same people never come back 3-4 months later when they’re ‘finished’ the program.

Sadly for most people they’re forever stuck in the starting blocks. They desperately want to do something, but somehow are frozen in place and can’t get going.

This inability to follow through is not because of a lack of discipline, or a physical inability to get things done…it’s rooted in a belief system.

All of our actions are preceded by a belief. In the case of weight loss or getting in shape many people are stuck with a belief that they simply do not deserve to lose weight or get in shape. As bizarre and contradictory as that sounds this is something people learn and it becomes ingrained into their subconscious over time.

Changing this belief system is the key to getting out of the starting blocks and actually getting into and finishing the weight loss and exercise race.

Changing beliefs like this is what you might call a paradigm shift, and it’s at base of both the Adonis Effect and Eat Stop Eat.

If you haven’t read them I suggest you do, if you already have them, re-read them to remind yourself why you workout and why you at least think twice about how you eat and look.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m going to be offering a coaching program to help get you out of the starting blocks and into the race for both weight loss and muscle building. I’ll be posting more details in the next few weeks, but if you’re interested in getting a gentle nudge (or maybe a good old fashioned kick in the ass) to make your weight loss and fitness dreams a reality I might just have the foot your looking for!

Email me at john(at)adoniseffect.com and we can discuss further.

John

Posted by johnbarban in Muscle Building, Weight Loss

Tags: Muscle Building, taking action, Weight Loss |8 Comments

8 Responses to “Starting Over…or Just Standing Still”

Jordan D. Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 10:57 am
That’s how I felt, “frozen in place and can’t get going.” I procrastinated for a long, long time. I’m not exactly sure why, if I didn’t feel deserving or something else. I do know what finally snapped me out of it, and perhaps that’s a sufficient explanation. It was two things:

1) Seeing an old friend and being embarrassed by how fat I’d become since the last time she saw me. I lost my first five pounds right after that! Water weight, of course, but it was the beginning.
2) Finally getting it drilled into my head that it was about calories, not carbs, “Paleo” and “Neolithic” foods, hormones, insulin, etc. I swept away all the clutter and focused on what was actually important.

That was it. Those two things. A personal reason and an intellectual one.
tonyoramos1 Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Unfortunately, John, this is how too many people talk about any change they need to make in their life. My new motto is, ‘Someday is code for NEVER.’
johnbarban Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
“Tomorrow” is also code for never…tomorrow never comes, because no matter what day it is, there is still “tomorrow”. It’s kinda like perpetually being “next” in line.

JB
Girlwithnoname Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
YAY JORDAN!! I wish everyone would figure out the calories thing. Man, it’s frustrating to see all these people scurrying from program to program trying to figure out if they need more/less protein/carbs/etc… just EAT LESS!!
tonyoramos1 Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Yeah John, I had a revelation. As of Monday I lost my 30th lb since Dec 25 last year. When you look at my driver’s license, I don’t even look the same, bouncers do a double take.

Why did the change happen? Last Christmas, I pigged out simultaneous to the day of my highest weighing in ever. On that day, I stopped saying, “i’ll lose the weight later” (i had been on a bulking diet), to, “I’ll lose the weight starting TODAY.”

Since then, I have followed your recommendations and eaten WHATEVER types of food I wanted to eat, just eating less calories. It was the easiest weight loss of my life and the most empowering.
pastadano Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I was just talking to my wife about something along these lines yesterday. We’re currently both working towards our ideal bodies as well as our ideal financial goals. I mentioned to her how it all comes down to what you believe. I’ve believed for so long that I was just destined to be “bigger”. “I’m big boned” I’d say. But now that I’ve dropped 70lbs, that’s changing. However, the same thing is happening. I find I’m questioning whether I can actually get to the place of dropping the last 15-20lbs and live in that that peak state all the time. It comes down to what I believe and once I can change that, I will be there in no time.
jaxon Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Right on John!

A person just has to want it intellectually and subconcsiously to take any truly meaningful action.
Jordan D. Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Thanks, Girlwithnoname! I think it’s Jackie, right?

Yeah, that was quite a mental hurdle for a while. But it wasn’t the only one. Another false idea I had was *doubt* that I could significantly decrease my calorie intake. I thought it would be too difficult, too “unrealistic.” (Maybe that’s why people focus on carbs, because they can’t believe that they could ever eat much less food.) But now I’m down 62 pounds, and I actually get compliments on my discipline/ willpower! I never thought either of those things would ever happen. The latter may be more surprising than the former! I was astonishingly undisciplined.

So John is right, there are a lot of self-limiting beliefs that we’re carrying around, no question about it.