Giving up again are ya?

15th February 2017

All things are difficult before they are easy.

Nothing worth having comes easy - we've all heard that saying haven't we?  It's the truth, especially regarding successful weight loss - easy is usually what's got us to the weight we are!  Taking the easy option, following the easy route is why we're not at the weight we'd like to be.  It's easier to say go on then, yeah that's have a takeaway than it is to say, no, I'll cook, it won't take long to knock a meal up.

Change, that can be hard too, I've been changing my meeting rooms round the last few weeks, I've changed Tuesday's meeting twice in the last month, when I was asked yesterday, I told them it's my way of showing them, the more often you make changes, the easier they get to handle - it's true.

We all know it's easier in the short term to give up, in the long term though - we'll regret it.  I've just passed the halfway mark of my Dry for Dementia month, I have to admit the first week was vile, the second week much easier, this week so far no problem at all, I'm not even thinking about wanting a glass when I get home.

How difficult was walking when we started learning, you may not remember as you were so young, but trust me, when you stood and fell down, you didn't stay down - you kept trying till you got it sussed.

Why do we give up?

How many times have you said to yourself, right I'm going to do....

Or you've tried and quit as soon as it became difficult?

Maybe you've just put it off till another time because right now isn't a good time!

Reasons we give up include "I can't do it!", someone probably once told you that you couldn't do something and you believed them, now you use those words yourself - you know what, you can do it, you can do absolutely anything that you put your mind too, if it's important enough to you.  Don't you believe you can do it?  Get that self belief back baby, does your self confidence need a boost, if so, stop for a minute and think about all the things you can do, are you an incredible friend, an amazing mom/dad, good at your job, what are you good at.  See you're awesome - you can do this.

Maybe you use the excuse, I'm not really bothered about what I weigh!  If that were true, would you have joined Weight Watchers in the first place?  If what you'd tried in the past worked then you wouldn't be trying a different approach.  No matter how 'good' or 'okay' you are in your world, you joined Weight Watchers to make it better.  Don't even contemplate giving up!

Are you distracted, we're trying to do so much all the time, be everything for everybody - FOCUS!  Turn things off, whether it's the tele, facebook, whatever is distracting you.  My meeting discussions last 30 minutes maximum and so many members can't put their phones away for that time - give yourself some time out to focus on you PLEASE!

Another reasons we give up is results, we don't see immediate results, we're putting too much emphasis on numbers and we're not focusing on the other successes we're having.  We want it all and we want it now - a stone in a day!  Remember you didn't gain overnight, it ain't going overnight.  I lost 1/2lb this week but the big results for me were, I enjoyed eating out twice, I've not been as obsessed with "what can I eat next", "I want a drink" thoughts, that's much more important than the fast results on the scales, because those things can help me keep the weight off forever.

Have you lost your enthusiasm, has your motivation slipped, do you remember when you joined how inspired you were by the other members in the meeting that first week, you left thinking 'that's gonna be me', a few weeks in, you've not stayed for the last few meetings because you went to get your nails done, or you had to work, or whatever reason you found not to find that half hour to re-motivate you, you didn't really hear what the leader was saying the week before anyway because you were messing about on your phone reading unimportant posts on Facebook by people you rarely see!  Instead of focusing on yourself and what you really want for half hour and now you're fires gone out.  GO back to the start, remind yourself why you walked in the door in the first place, stay to your meeting, turn your phone to silent, shut Facebook - PLEASE, everything can wait for 30 minutes because you are important, you deserve to spend half hour each week thinking about what you want and how to focus on getting it.

Is it hard?  Have you stepped outside your comfort zone, were you hoping the leader would wave her wand and you'd suddenly have a personality transplant to match the massive, immediate weight loss?  Didn't happen did it, if you want to make permanent changes, you have to step out of that comfort zone you're in, you know the one that isn't working for you, the one that isn't making you happy, the one that led you into that meeting in the first place!

Are others trying to tell you it was a bad idea?  Oh yeah, we all have them, the experts who tell you, "I don't know why you're bothering, it doesn't work! You'll not keep it off, even if you lose it!"  Nice folk them ain't they.  We you know what, you can, it does work, I have many members who are proof of the fact, some have lost half their body weight or more.  Yeah it works.

It should be easier though shouldn't it?  We all want easy and giving up is the easiest thing we can do, that doesn't take any effort at all, nor any time, that hour you were spending at Weight Watcher, heck you could be playing on Facebook, getting your nails done (because you don't really want to go buying clothes as it doesn't make you as happy anymore), or you could go for coffee and cake with your mate to cheer you up - does it?  If yes, for how long.

I'm not judging, heck I've been that person, who am I kidding, I am that person sometimes still, what I am saying is believe in yourself, be confident and give it time, you can do this, you're important too - put the effort in.  Most of you parents reading this would do anything for your kids, well how about taking care of you because your kids will benefit from that too.

The longer you do it - the easier it will get - trust me, I'm an expert BeYOUtiful :)

Have a great day, whether it be difficult or easy.