“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.”
Brendan Francis
(1923-1964)
Irish author noted for his powerful political views
and earthly satire.
I currently have the pleasure of working motivationally with a lovely gal in her early forty’s who needs to lose about twenty-five to thirty post-baby pounds – and the kid is now two.
She’s on my mind a lot of the time as I often wonder how she’s doing with her new daily walking and diet routine. I like when she frequently checks in with me via e-mail whether she’s having a motivational problem or just to tell me how great she’s currently doing. My feedback helps her stick to her plan and believe it or not, it’s always a big inspiration for me, too.
I’m very proud to know that I help motivate her the way I do. That’s what I’m here for.
Whenever I get the chance, I always congratulate her on her progress with the South Beach diet plan. She’s been following it religiously for nine days and counting, which is nothing to sniff at. Her six-pound weight loss during that time shows that the low carb lifestyle in combination with daily walking does work – especially after the other diet methods she’s tried in the recent past have not. From my experience, most people who struggle with their weight need to eat lower carb to lose and just waste time fooling around with a lot of other diets that do not work as well for them.
No matter what, you HAVE to pick a diet you can live with in the long run – something you can follow Monday through Friday – especially after your weight is off.
That’s a big reason why I always suggest people choose the diet that has worked the best for them in their lifetime – and we all have one – and then go on it – and then stay on it – saving cheating for weekends only. Period
You can never really ever go back to your old way of eating – ever. If you do, the pounds will just pile back on by the handful. Duh.
This is truly one of the secrets to true and ever lasting weight loss and it’s right under everyone’s nose! Trust me on this. I’m living proof. I’m into my fourth year of maintenance following my original modified Atkins, low white starch and sugar carb eating plan – and look at me now.
The fact that people are beginning to notice my friend’s weight loss certainly IS a good boost for her, too. That’s one of the things that helped spur me on – especially in the very beginning of my own weight loss program this time. Success breeds success. Compliments breed success.
Otis Wilson, the former Bear’s Super Bowl champ, was one of the very first people at East Bank Club to even notice that I was losing weight. And there is also a doctor who belongs there who was another one of the very first people to notice my weight loss in the beginning. Oddly enough, he was losing weight right along with me, but he actually started his health and fitness plan just a little before I did and was a big inspiration to me because we were both pretty large and each had significant amounts of weight to lose.
As further proof of daily walking’s benefits, I told my friend to think back to when she lived in Argentina and how all the women and men who walked around the city were always the most fit and healthy of the bunch. Even with Tango, it was the walking that kept everyone on their toes!
The same goes for all of Europe and other countries where people walk a lot. They seem to have a lot less problem with obesity than we do and I don’t believe it’s all related to eating copious amounts of junk food, either.
Actually, I can show anyone how to lose weight by eating fast food – but that’s another story.
All I can say to you and my gal pal is: keep up your daily walks. If you’re not yet walking daily – start right now. It is the one and only way to lose weight and keep it off forever – trust me – combined with a good, effective diet, of course.
I do recommend you eventually buy a pedometer, however. And it really helps to record your daily walking totals and weight in your fitness journal every day. The numbers don’t lie. Use them all as motivation each and every day. You need to know where you’re going by seeing exactly where you’ve been. And your steady progress – no matter how small – will help you eventually push far beyond what you think your limits currently are.
