Blaze your own way to weight loss instead’ve envying others (part 1)

May 16, 2018 Ashley 0 Comments

Who’s your favorite weight loss role model?

Maybe it’s some slender celeb. Maybe it’s a Youtube personality.

Maybe it’s the blonde bombshell next door who wakes up at 4 A.M. to do poweryoga before work.

Whoever it is, I’m not judging.

(Unlike the classic side-eye transpiring here…)

Yeah, envy isn’t cute. But you know what is?

Using the blueprints that a human who’s “done it” has to offer.

The greatest motivational speakers will often tell you: if you wanna change, find a role model to follow. But, don’t get it twisted. This doesn’t mean we need to go S.W.F. on some unsuspecting health nut. It just means that we choose a few fit folk we wanna be like, and follow their habits as best we can. I did this when I was first making the switch to a plant based diet. At first, Freelee (not sure if that’s how you even spell her name), “the banana girl”, was my template to copy. Then it was some dude from Hawaii who grew his own fruit. Then, it was this artist hippie chick from another island on Hawaii. And, ya know what? Now, I’m a nanner noshing, art making, fit chick who’s in the process of growing her own garden. (With, ya know, the help of a S.O. who’s far more experienced in all things terrestrial than I am. And by “far more”, I mean, he does the larger part’ve the gardening. I digress.) But turning into a vegan Frankenstein comprised of quilted together skills from my idols didn’t come so quickly. Or easily. It was tough at first. You see, something happens when you gaze in awe at someone who’s doing what you wanna do; when they’re who you wanna be. The first step’s that you tune into their world. The second’s that you start to admire their lifestyle. And the third? Well, the third is sneaky. ’cause it can go one’ve two ways. You can either let that admiration take a dark turn. One that takes ya down a trail of you painfully comparing your current status to theirs, which snowballs into self loathing. That’s an option. Or, step three can go another way totally – where you let their bright and shiny lives light your way down your own road to greatness.

The choice might seem obvious.

But you know what isn’t? Staring what’s somehow keeping you from achieving it – square in the face.

So let’s check out these demons we encounter on our way to weight loss, as well as how to counter them.

1. GET UP AND GO

The problem: When we see something beautiful or inspiring, we get this endorphin hit. Viewing our favorite motivational folk will definitely deliver this bit of internal dope. And, TBH, that in itself isn’t inherently bad. But what is is when we overdose on it. We wanna be constantly wowed by what they have to offer. Plus, part of us already feels like we share in their greatness by simply watching or reading about them. (It’s kinda like why they say not to share your goals before achieving them; the internal reward you feel from your friends’ or family’s excitement for you makes your motivation to actually do it decrease.) Then, the reality intermittently sets in. We’re not there yet. And that’s a bad feeling. So, to counter that bad feeling, we have two choices. We can get up and go work toward where they are… or we can do the easy thing. We can get that quick dopamine hit, without any of the effort. Without thinking, we often choose the latter – seeking out more dopamine inducing content on our new obsession. The result? We’re left feeling not only the “comedown” of getting high off our own supply for far too long. We’re also feeling crappy about the fact that we’re no nearer to being like these people – mostly because we’ve done nada to drop a drawbridge over that gap between where we are and they are.

The fix: Alan Watts (famous British philosopher with mindblowy recordings you can peruse on Youtube) once said, “When you get the message, hang up the phone.” In other words, whether you’re meditating, watching “how to” videos, or taking in some inspirational vlogs your fitspo spirit animal of the week’s posted, the aim is the same. You gain just enough to take with you and use in the real world. You don’t overdo it. It’s like the different between nibbling on fruit’s bit of fructose or binging on ridiculous too-much-added sugar foods. Once that “aha” moment’s arrived, don’t get greedily hedonistic and spend another hour fangirling over your lifestyle or spiritual crush. Get up, and take what you’ve just been inspired by to the gym or grocery store or yoga mat. Because you can bet whoever you’re emulating isn’t sitting around waiting for greatness to flow into them via digital osmosis.

They’ve been out, grinding for the “icon” title and all the other great labels the dreaming peons give to them.

Alright. Fine.

You “got up and went” today. But what happens tomorrow – when motivation wanes?

Keep reading on how to combat this common barricade on your way to weight loss…