"...I gained what mattered most; a new sense of being accountable and honest to myself."
In that one minute, I ultimately concluded that I had to change my eating habits and to fall in love with exercise. I knew I would have to stop lying to myself about lifestyle choices and stop being influenced by how companies and restaurants market food to me. I was not sure how I was going to do it, but I knew it was going to happen because in that one moment I gained what mattered most; a new sense of being accountable and honest to myself.
The Body
Whether you're religious or not, you are stuck with your body for the time being. We use our bodies for communication, transportation, recreation, and procreation. It is a gift, a tool, a weapon, a canvas and so much more. It is the ultimate way we interface with the world and the people around us. Regardless of how attached we seem to be, though, we are not our bodies. YOU are not your body. It is an organ, yes, composed of many systems, but if you start to view your body as it's own system that you control, you will learn to respect it more which will lead to many great things. As stated above the body is many things, but why let it become a burden?
The Mind
Like the body, YOU are also not your thoughts... till later! The thoughts in your head do not define who YOU are, but do determine what you may become. Thoughts and beliefs work in cycles like gears. They spin constantly to construct patterns in which we live, but we have the power to change our thoughts, shift in to different gears, which means we can change ourselves and ultimately change the world around us too. It is equally important to feed your mind with information about improving health as it is to feed your body with foods that improve health.
The Spirit
I am not here to tell you who you are. I am just barely wise enough to know you are not your body, and that the state of mind you are in will determine who you become. My goal in writing this article is to explain to you that I lost 100 pounds not in the past 5 years of exploring health and fitness, but in the one minute that preceded that journey. If you are at a point in your life where you are ready to realize you want to change, it only takes a minute to breathe in deeply and acknowledge there is no better time than now to improve your health... but you have to mean it with all your body, mind and spirit.
I will make more general posts about losing weight in the future, but I feel this perspective was the key that ignited my weight loss. Also the slow carb diet has been an effective diet and you can read about it here.
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| My weightloss journey |
10 comments:
well written, young guru. =]
I've been there too. I was mentally hopeless for several years, due to a series of unfortunate life circumstances, and it took it's toll on my body. Before I knew it, I was obese, and felt even more hopeless about my appearance.
In Feb 2009, I attended a wedding, and in the photos from that wedding, I didn't even recognize myself, because I had gained so much weight. I knew I had to do something about it, my blood pressure and cholesterol were high, and I was ready to be myself again.
I also discovered sparkpeople.com, which was an invaluable tool that helped me to learn about nutrition and exercise, and how to balance the two to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
As a result of this change, I feel better and stronger than ever, and my health has improved greatly.
Very nicely written article.
Thanks calla, appreciate it. :)
kittymonkey, sparkpeople.com looks awesome, I have never heard of that but I will have to check it out more in depth. I'm glad your health has improved, sometimes it takes those negative feelings, to hit how our lows before we reach our highs.
You are truly inspiring Andrew! I think you found your groove with this post.
You are awesome. I like the idea of falling in love with health and exercise... I think this way, too, that the things I want to accomplish but find really challenging, I will fall in love with them if I am going to get there. Also, I like the idea of meaning it with your BODY, mind, and soul.
Thanks Madre, er hermana XD, yeah I'm starting to refine my writing style for the blog and feel out my voice here.
Luella, thank you so much, it's so true that if you love what you do the results will come swiftly.
There is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Also I think the title, while attention getting, is not true.
Chuck, I added pictures at the bottom. Thanks for checking out the article in any case, but I think you're sort of missing the point. People struggle for months and years sometimes and never permanently lose the weight, the point is my weight loss became permanent the minute I was 100% committed to do it.
Interesting and inspiring. ^_^
I feel enlightened after reading that since pessimism and stress usually gets the worse out of me that I would get depressed and lazy (which is heavily contributing to weight gain).
Lately with the support of others and taking their advice, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I agree that commitment is key to most things in life. I just have to keep working at it!!
Thanks, Andrew!!
You're welome, Viorie! Glad you are feeling inspired. How you feel inside is so critical to how you carry yourself and the health choices you make. Don't feel down if/when you're slipping, it's part of the journey and what matters is that you get back up and keep going! :)
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