I just got done talking with a close friend of mine. She used to be heavy, relatively speaking, and lost a ton of weight. She looks astonishing, but she's set on getting very lean. Like physique-competitor lean. This isn't an easy task, especially for a female. I've known her for a few years now so she always hears my shpeel (is that a word? help someone) about the role the mind plays, yada yada yada.

I was talking with her today inquiring about her training and diet. She said she's having a really tough time with consistency. The temptation to binge on junk and not adhere to her diet strategy is too much for her she says. She says, "It's like I'm at point A trying to get to point infinity, but every time I get to point C I regress back to point A."

I asked her, "What are you doing on a daily basis to remind yourself why it is you have the goals that you have? Why do you want what you want?"

I was amazed when she said, "nothing."

Just a reminder that spending some time each and every day on the mind is a critical component to all this.

My friend here expects to tackle this enormous challenge without getting in the driver seat of her mind. Auto-pilot simply doesn't work for most of us.

Steve,

I think that is so true; if you don't know why you are doing something (whether it is losing weight, getting an education or achieving any goal) it becomes very easy to lose focus when things get hard. Even when you know why it is you are doing something, temptations can make it very easy to get off track.

Sometimes wanting a thing simply isn't enough, you have to have something concrete tied to it to make it real. I don't think it matters if you are losing weight to look better, to fit into a smaller size, to improve your health or simply to LIVE...if you haven't decided the why, it becomes harder to stick to the how of it.

Not that I am an expert but I have found that unless you know why you really want a thing, it is almost impossible to keep working for it when things get hard.

I realize now that as much as I 'wanted' to lose weight before, I didn't really. I just wanted to be thinner w/o any real reason why other than I didn't like being fat. When I decided that I was going to die very young if I didn't make a change I was able to make real progress for the first time and without some 'gimmick' that would only work in the short term.

There's my two cents!

Your 2 cents should be worth a whole lot more.

Wow sounds alot like what I am going through I lost 60 lbs like that and now I am going back and forth with consistency,I feel I have the will power most of the times then that little voice says doesn't that potatoe soup sound good from ocharlies along with the chicken sand ,then I give in and it leads down a long road of feeling like blah afterwards,don't want to exersice,bloaty feeling,oh yeah and depressed!
NOTE:I am working on this though. I am sure you will be able to give her some helpful information and support,Tammy

Glad to hear you are working on that Tammy.

Hey Steve,

does your friend happen to have any befores and afters posted online? Reason I ask, I've always wanted to be on the ummm "buffer side" and to be honest, I don't think it's possible to do so with my body. haha In other words, I want to be able to see a picture and say, "Damn... it IS possible!" hahaa Honestly, I hope she achieves her fitness goal.

Oh... and you already know my take on visualizations/ listing goals.

-S Dawg

Coming from you, Steve, that means a lot. Thanks!

Check your PM homie.

Thanks

But I'm just some boob who talks a lot.

schpeel
Urban Dictionary: schpeel

Oh yeah and if you want to get somewhere - it helps to know where you're going otherwise you're just flailing about...

I lose direction occassionally -sometimes end up in a better place sometimes -well not so much

Or you could try spelling it correctly. spiel - definition of spiel by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

(This must be a victuals/vittles thing, but really - I fail to see how a phonetic spelling with no change in meaning is "urban" as opposed to "illiterate.")

Phoebe the Grammar Snob

Urban dictionary - the lifeline of the illiterate

Lol!

.......

Ok, so we agree it's speel.

if that what makes you happy