1. If you blame yourself you will be successful. If you blame everything else you won't.
As a fitness coach, when I first talk to people I am not listening to the details of their health, fitness, and nutrition as I am going to be improving it all anyway. All I want to know is whether a person can take responsibility for himself or herself or if they blame everything and everyone else.
You haven't been successful because you made bad decisions. You surfed Pinterest for an hour instead of heading to the gym to train. You bought a tub of ice cream to 'have a treat' while watching Downton Abbey (confession: I love Downton Abbey).
VS.
I had to respond to my friend's third cousin's post on Facebook to debunk anti-vaccination and that is why I skipped my workout. Everyone brought donuts to work to 'indulge' while we sat around and talked about Downton Abbey.
See the difference? I made the decision versus they made me do it.
You are responsible for yourself. Either take responsibility for your own life and actions or blame everyone else and everything else around.
2. You can't make a sacrifice.
You have to make sacrifice to stay healthy. Deal with it. You will have to turn down the donuts. Pass over the ice cream. Skip the odd party.
Forever? No. You can add these into a healthy life for sure. Not daily, maybe not even weekly. Ninety per cent of your diet has to be perfectly healthy. That is the reality.
Life isn't fair. Life is hard. You will get out of it what you put into it.
And when you decide to make real changes, when you make a commitment to yourself to make a difference, YOU HAD BETTER STICK TO IT.
Your fitness isn't your co-workers fault for bringing in that cake. You chose to eat it.
3. You Don't Know What a Treat Is.
Treat /tret/: defn: an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure
'Treats' are something out of the ordinary. If it happens more than once a month it is no longer out of the ordinary. Stop saying treat. You aren't having a treat.
It comes down to sacrifice and commitment, like we talked about earlier. Come on. You're a grown adult making your own decisions. Don't delude yourself in an attempt to justify the fact you are fully responsible for what you eat.
4. You Are Planning for the End Date Already.
If you are already planning for the end then what you are doing is not for life. And if you are doing things for your health and fitness that you don't plan on doing for life then you are destroying your own life.
You. Have. Already. Failed.
An end implies cessation of current activities. If your current activities are healthy then by default the cessation of those activities is unhealthy. They are your old habits. You know them; they are the habits and activities (or lack thereof) that got you to this point to begin with.
If the end point is in your sights I am telling you right now that you will not be successful in the long term.
5. You Want Results Faster Than Your Laziness.
Four-week bootcamp programs are seemingly still popular. Two-week diets! Results in just one week! 10lbs a week in weight loss!!
The claims never stop. They just keep on coming. Everyone wants results fast. They want results now.
The same way it went on is how it is going to come off - through a group of compounding factors over a period of time. You have to change your exercise, your diet, and your lifestyle and you have to expect it to take the SAME amount of time to get back to where you were as it took to get you to where you are.
Period.
Can you get results in four weeks? Sure. Will they last for the next four years? No. No they won't.
6. You Have a Bad Attitude.
This is the number one thing I believe will have the most effect on your long-term health and fitness.
Your attitude.
You need to stop complaining about how hard you have it and how hard your life is.
Seriously.
Why do I write about all of this in a fat loss fitness article?
It is because your attitude will determine your success. And your attitude is based on your life and the issues you deal with. And I want you to take a minute to put into perspective the majority of your problems and issues.
It's too hard to exercise. Think about accident victims who are now confined to a wheelchair and would give anything JUST TO TAKE A SINGLE STEP.
It is your life, your decisions. Your life is what you make your life to be. Period. Your attitude WILL determine your success in both your health and your life.
It is either a cold miserable winter day or a chance to learn to cross country ski. It is either a boring meal of roast and vegetables or a gift to spend time with loved ones over a bounty of food many people would literally kill for. It is either a workout you have to do or a celebration of the amazing gift your healthy body is.
Conclusions
Your life is yours to live. Be reasonable, responsible, and realistic.
What I have written is the truth. It is the brutally honest truth that people aren't telling you. I have coached hundreds of people over the last 13 years and I can tell you that each one of these six honest truth's work. Every. Single. Time.
Take each of these six truths to heart. Live them. Mold your lives around them. And you will achieve every single health and fitness goal you have ever had.
-Coach Taylor
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