Good Intentions, Poor Results: All Talk, No Do
You’ve probably heard the saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, well so is the road to obesity. There are many people who have the best intentions to get fit, but they just don’t follow through. Why? While I know there are many reasons for people’s inability to turn their good intentions into good actions, I want to tackle 5 of the most common problems. Each day this week I will post one problem and one solution.
#1 Can’t Get Started: All Talk No Do
This person talks about it often, but that’s about it. They may even subscribe to every diet and fitness magazine and health blog. Getting fit is at the top of their mind, but at the bottom of their to-do list.
Maybe, despite all their reading, they still don’t know exactly what to do. Maybe they don’t know how to start or maybe they are just not ready. Whatever the case, they probably have many excuses of why they haven’t been able to do it.
Sadly, people around them will get frustrated because this type of person is often cranky, uncomfortable, and complainy. It’s like their body is tired of being overweight, but their mind isn’t actually ready to make the decision to lose it. Therefore, they are in a constant fight – and everyone around them suffers from the internal squabble.
Solution: This person needs to listen to their body and do what they know they need to do to be happier and healthier. They need to quit procrastinating and making excuses, and except the responsibility for their actions (or lack of). If losing weight is really important to them, they need to make it a priority in their life and move it to the top of their to-do list – because it isn’t going to happen on its own. This person should join a gym, have accountability and may need to even hire a trainer to get them started, since they haven’t been able to start on their own. The most important step for this person is the first step.
This Week’s Mantra:
Inspire Someone:
Bonnie Pfiester
Owner of Lift Vero and motivational "pfitness, pfood and pfaith" blogger in Vero Beach, Florida.
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Michelle
Good grief. Shame I feel bad for you trying so hard for someone who doesn’t seem to be willing to help herself.
Chantal
This describes a friend of mine to a “T”! She divorced about 2 years ago, and has since gained some 50+ lbs on top of the weight she already had to lose. Before her divorce, she and her now-ex were eating healthy, going for walks, etc. This all stopped when they separated…which I understand totally, as people handle their emotions different ways. At that point, she was a size 20, and she is not at least a 28. Her body is in pain from the weight…heel spurs, other foot/ankle problems, she’s always tired. She pays good money to see this “nutritionist”, but she doesn’t quite often follow this person’s advice. Even then, I have my own questions about this “nutritionist”…almost seems to me that she is more about the money than anything. She practices nutritional response testing, which I’ve done my research, and the consensus is that it is basically quack medicine. She has my friend taking more supplements that I can count…and these things are not cheap…like $40 for a 20-day supply EACH! Now, she is trying to get my friend on the Paleo diet after trying to say (due to the response testing and no real medical facts) that my friend is somehow allergic to red meat, sugar, wheat, and all kinds of other stuff. My friend did all the research and was gung-ho about this new diet, until she realized how difficult it was to follow.
At one point, my friend spend some $500 on home fitness equipment, only to never use it, and ended up just giving it all away when she moved!
I’ve tried to help my friend…I’m working on my personal certification training myself. I have successfully lost 75 lbs, the last 30 of that coming off with just clean eating and exercise. I’ve tried to offer her ideas for exercise that she could do that wouldn’t put a lot of pressure on her feet, but still get her heart rate up. I’ve tried to help her with eating right. If I say anything about health and nutrition, even if it is, “Hey, I was reading this interesting article the other day about _________” she gets all butt hurt, and then starts texting my husband that he needs to tell me to not talk about weight issues or anything around her! She needs help! I can’t give it to her, she has alienated herself from most of her friends, keeps talking about wanting to lose the weight and get healthy, and is just lining the purse of this so called nutritionist who really hasn’t helped her at all. Frustrating!