The truth is there is so much we still don’t know about how metabolism works in general, let alone every fat loss secret. What I do know though is that I can arm a woman with the best info out there, review all her labs and thoroughly assess her symptoms and give her a really great plan to drop the fat….and it doesn’t always work. Sure sometimes, it takes a little finesse – a tweak here or there until we get it all just right. Even then, the body often doesn’t work on our timetable. Instead taking a frustratingly long time to jump to and start dropping fat. I’m not talking about that stuff – and I’m not talking about those rare few in my office who simply so exactly what I ask them to, no muss, no fuss…I’m talking about the rest of us. Those of us that know what to do, but struggle to always do it. I’ll admit, I fall victim to this at times as well. Some days it’s just plain hard to do what I need to do for myself. What happens to me when I can’t pull it off is that I feel weak. I feel like I’m failing. I feel like, “What the hell’s wrong with me??” There is a huge gap between knowing what to do and actually being able to do it – let alone keep doing it, consistently. And this my dears is the real fat loss secret. Us experts make it sound really fancy at times talking about this hormone or that, but for the most part it’s doing a few simple things right, over and over. That is actually the key to your fat loss success. So what’s going on when we’re wondering “What the hell is wrong with me?? Why can’t I just do what I need to do?” We’re having a lapse in willpower. The problem is that we don’t know it – we feel weak and like we’re failing, not that we’re just low in juice to keep going. I’ve really turned my focus with the women I work with towards habit change and willpower. I’m trying to help them bridge this gap between knowing better and doing better. That gap exists because diets focus on what to eat, what not to eat, how much to workout – no one’s talking about how you actually do that…especially when your resolve is in the tank. I will be writing on this a whole lot, so stay tuned. But know this: there are things that drain your willpower and things that boost it. Just knowing this should help you stop feeling weak or like you’re failing and rather that you’ve just never learned to manage your own willpower. What comes to mind when you think of willpower? I know, I know, that you don’t have enough of it. Willpower is this vague, invisible thing that has a huge hold on how we feel about ourselves. When we have it we feel virtuous and when we lack it we feel like crap. Shift your thinking at times of perceived weakness from it meaning something bad about you to it being simply a willpower failure. Although it feels like it, low willpower doesn’t mean that you’re failing, it means that you’r willpower is failing. See the difference? Think of it like being unable to do that last pushup, that last lunge…you can’t, you’re just fully fatigued. Willpower works the same way. That said, willpower failures can mean big trouble for you because when we start to feel bad, start to feel weak or like we’re failing we tend to give up. So while you may have simply been tired or hungry or otherwise zapped of willpower temporarily, you may throw in the towel all together instead of realizing your tank was simply out of gas. Little did you know, a fill up is just around the corner. Here’s one thing you can do to boost your willpower right now: Did you know that just thinking of someone that you see as a success in what you’re trying to do OR thinking of someone who you deem as having loads of willpower will increase your willpower? Research bears this out so have some go to sources of inspiration to fill up your willpower when you’re feeling low. Here are some of mine: Molly Galbraith, Neghar Fahooni and everything that goes on at Girls Gone Strong instantly boost my resolve as I see these strong girls keep on rockin. They look awesome, have a positive message about how beautiful it is to be strong and when I see them I’m reminded, “Yeah, that’s why I am going to the gym today!”
Miss Molly: was hard to pic a shot of Molly that didn’t show her face, cuz she’s so darn adorable! But I love this one of her looking like such a beautiful badass!
Neghar: Tell me those abs don’t want to make you eat clean??
Both Neghar and Jen Comas Keck remind me that strong girls need to lift lots of heavy stuff – and also do yoga. I get so into exercising for “fat loss” that I regularly neglect the yin to my yang….consequently I’m injured too often and tight and sore every day. I’m really getting into yoga – finally! But historically I found it boring, too slow and even agitating as I tried to breath and just couldn’t quiet my mind thinking of all I needed to be doing. How bad did I need to be doing yoga?? Sheesh.
Jen, Lovely Jen: I am no where this bendy, but she inspires me to keep trying!
When my head wanders into victim territory and I start to let myself off the hook by saying things like, “Well I did have a baby after all….” I pop over to Tuff Girls Fitness and take a look at one buff mama, Christa Doran. I’ve followed Christa’s journey back to body after babies on Facebook. Very inspiring!
Crista: There have been two babies in this belly….need I say more??
And when I want to be inspired to run my business, write books, eat well, have a hubby and a baby and be able to flip a tire I visit my friend Cass Forsythe’s page and I feel instantly more awesome.
Cass: Aside from living close enough to hang out with Cass on a regular basis, I want to move to CT so I can flip a tire. Not a lot of room here in Brooklyn.
Who inspires you? Have them on speed dial, subscribe to their blogs, and fave their Facebook pages or favorite their sites in your web browser so you can get instant access to inspiration and willpower. Be inspired so you can be BETTER!