How Bad Do You Really Want It?

Have you ever really, REALLY, REAAALLLY thought about what you want? Sure, everyone would say they don’t want to be fat and would love to have a great physique – but do they REALLY WANT IT? Maybe we should change the question.

“Do you want to give up your favorite junk food, alcohol and sodas? Do you want to give up some of your valuable time to spend in the gym training, sweating and occasionally (OK, often) hurting? Do you want to run even if it’s hot outside, workout even when you are tired, and eat small portions even when you are starved? That’s the reality behind wanting to get fit.” Sure, there are awesome rewards to being fit too, but you have to get through the ‘getting fit’ before you start ‘feeling fit’.

Let’s break it down like this. When Steve and I were preparing to buy our lake house, he told me we’d have to be really frugal to save and pay down some debt. This was much easier said than done. Since I love to shop, this was a challenge for me. My instinct was to live life like I always had – but Steve would stop me in my tracks with this question: “Do you want to buy a house or do you want to buy some clothes – ’cause you can’t do both?”  

The discipline it took to buy that home, is the same discipline required to reach fitness goals. When you are tempted to live life like you always have, you have to ask yourself, “do I want to get fit or do you want the freedom to eat whatever you want – because you can’t have both?” It’s just that simple.

Fat is Not Fair
I know it seems unfair that some people can’t eat whatever they want, but that’s life. I can’t spend whatever I want and kiss whoever I want without repercussions – that’s life.  I mean, I can do it – but I’d eventually would lose my house and my husband. However, when we get the physique we want, we will look back at the small sacrifices we gave to get such a valuable reward.

Just as a home is much more valuable than a new pair of jeans, I literally could have blown the opportunity to buy our home by blowing money on crap I didn’t need. We do the EXACT thing with food and exercise. We work so hard to burn calories and shape muscle only to blow our hard work on food we only taste for 15 minutes. REALLY? Is that really what we want? Do we really care about what we taste for 15 minutes MORE than how we feel for the rest of the day? Are we complete retards?!?!?!?!

The Solution
We need to constantly ask ourselves that important question “Do we really want this?”. I heard this so often it’s not even funny. Steve didn’t have this problem with discipline – I did. So he had to remind me of the end goal all the time. It seems ridiculous that I would actually ‘forget’ we were working toward something that big, but we get in habits and used to a certain lifestyle. We also forget to STOP and look at how our small choices affect the big picture.

Eating is a habit, a lifestyle, a way of life. You can’t expect to make these changes easily – especially when the goal seems so far away. It was hard to not shop, knowing we had the money and while living in an apartment – there was no tangible reward I could enjoy at that moment. It’s also easy to say “it’s just one pair of jeans” or “it’s just one cheat meal” – but it doesn’t take much arsenic to ruin a meal either!

Bottom Line
You can’t live your old lifestyle and become a different person. If you are tempted to not want to workout or eat healthy, but you WANT to get fit – then you are going to NEED to workout and get healthy – and the desire for getting fit must trump your old desires. Remember the big picture. Eventually you will be able to do a little of both – just like I was eventually able to have my house and shop too!

5 Tips to Staying Focused on What You Want

1. Keep your goals IN YOUR FACE. Post photos or reminders on the fridge, in the pantry, at your desk, on your bathroom mirror. Help your long-term goal be more tangible by using photos and facts.

2. Slow down. Quit acting on impulse. Impulse is action without pause and without discipline. Instead, slow down and weigh your options.

3. Don’t let it beat you. I don’t think anyone likes to lose – I know I sure don’t. As soon as I started looking at my training and diet as a game, I started to succeed. Before I knew it, I didn’t want to eat or drink this or that because it would ‘ruin my score.  Whether it was training or eating clean for so many days straight, I started to become more focused on sticking to my plan than I was wanting anything else.

4. Do what you want to be identified with. If you want to be admired for being an athlete or being fit, healthy, disciplined or successful – you have to act like it. Before you know it, your new lifestyle will be the new you.

5. Capture your hard work. Once you reach your goal, capture it so it lasts forever. Whether it’s doing a marathon or a photo shoot, do something that will help all that work pay off even more, giving you the bragging rights you deserve.

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