Dream Big, But Start Small

Here's where so many of us get in trouble. We let our dreams scare us. And when we finally find the courage to tackle them, we bite off more than we can chew. We get frustrated and convince ourselves we can't achieve our goals. I'm here to tell you that you CAN achieve your goals. I'm living proof. If I can do this shit, anybody can. For reals.

Here's the trick: Keep your dream big, but break it down into small pieces. Big dreams are achieved by lots and lots of small successes.

When I started my journey, I needed to lose 120 pounds. The thought scared the hell out of me. When I thought of that insanely huge dream, I wanted to go hide under my covers... with a pan of brownies. I couldn't think that far ahead, it made me whimper.

KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE: You have to break down your dream into doable tasks. Take five pounds at a time. Do NOT look any further than five pounds. You have to work and sweat and push like that five pounds is your only goal... like it's your job.

Don't focus on getting to the top of your mountain. Just focus on each step in front of you. Before you know it, you'll be amazed at how high up you are.

To help you celebrate each and every pound lost as an accomplishment, consider making a homemade weight tracker chart as a visual motivator. Or buy a tracker chart already designed for you. Visual aids kick ass, no matter what your goals are.

Gage your progress with clothes and measurements.

Find a pair of super tight pants and a tight shirt and try them on every two weeks. No matter what the scale says, your clothes will tell the true story if you are making progress. Take monthly measurements of your body and log the numbers in a notebook or a measurement log.

Obviously at some point you’re going to get on the scale, but avoid stepping on it too often. It will be a huge discourager if you’re getting on that bitch every day or even every week. I would recommend no more than biweekly, monthly is even better. Remember, this isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.

Stop Making It Complicated

Oh how we make things so hard for ourselves. We are our own worst enemy. We are experts at talking ourselves out of something that we want, because we convince ourselves it's just too hard or that it's impossible.

STOP IT!

Stop selling yourself short.

Losing weight is NOT complicated. Is it easy? No. But is it complicated? Hell no. Listen, in order to lose weight, you need to burn calories by exercising and you need to eat healthy food. Period. So why the hell is it so hard? Why the hell do we fail at trying to lose weight?

The answer is simple. Our brains screw us up.

The physical end of losing weight could not be more straightforward. If you consistently eat healthy meals and snacks and exercise five times a week, you WILL lose weight. There's no other outcome.

It's our mind that fucks with us.

Losing weight is a mental battle.

Mentally we need to change how we think so that we can make the necessary changes to our lifestyle. But way more difficult than that is dealing with the unexpected emotional battles that show up. All the shit you have stuffed and buried for so long will start to come to the surface. This surprises us. We have no idea in the beginning that losing weight will turn into something more. Something much harder than losing weight. You will have to accept that this is going to happen. You have personal and internal work to do. If you know this from the get go, it will go much smoother.

Remember this, you are not overweight because you like food. You are overweight because you ate to deal with some kind of pain.

Weight loss journeys aren't about losing weight. They're about slaying the demons that make you abuse food.

They're about finding the real you that's hidden under that weight. It doesn't have a damn thing to do with food or how big your ass is. You don't have to lose 50 pounds, 100 pounds, or more because you love food. You need to lose it because you lost you.

{For a more in depth look at why we gain weight and can't seem to lose it, check out my article, "The Real Reason Why We Get Fat".}

Dealing with our demons is the reason we make losing weight complicated. Because if all it entailed was eating right and exercising, there would be fit and healthy people running amuck.

So how do we un-complicate our journeys?

Here's the deal. You need to prepare yourself that you will continually face personal issues. Know that right off the bat. Because what trips us up is when we don't expect it. We enter our new healthy lifestyle thinking our only goal is to squeeze our asses into a pair of small jeans or to proudly don bathing suits this summer.

WRONG.

Having a nice tight ass is not the true goal (even though you think it is)... it is the by-product of a successful journey.

At the end of your journey (not that it ever really truly ends), you will be an unstoppable, fearless, strong, and enlightened warrior. Not just because you are healthy and fit, but because of everything you battled to get there.

Knowing your journey will involve slaying personal demons. Facing all the crap you've been hiding under all that food and weight will free you from the element of surprise. You'll be ready. It's the pop-up emotional challenges that come up that cause us to fail at losing weight.

One minute we're sitting there eating our peanut butter and apple slices feeling confident that we have this losing weight thing in the bag and then all of a sudden some yucky shit we haven't been dealing with is right there on our plate sitting next to our apples. It's important to be ready for unwanted feelings to show up. Don't let them sucker punch you. And for God's sake, don't eat them like you have in the past. Stare them down, deal with them, process them. Once you do this, they'll stop showing up or at the very least they won't be scary if they do.

Be ready and arm yourself with the knowledge that you have lots of internal work to do so that you can eradicate any complications.

On this journey you will find the real you. She's been hiding inside of you this whole time. Fight to free her.

You. Are. A. Warrior.

Life isn't a picnic. In fact for the most part, it's a ruthless bitch. You need to fight for what you want. Always and forever. Life doesn't hand you healthy. You need to work for it. You need to fight to get it and then fight to keep it. But the fight is worth it.

Stop making things complicated.

Know what you're up against. Suit up and just do it. Life is too short to live a life you don't love. And you for damn sure can't love a life if the real you isn't living it.

~

*The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content in this article is for general information purposes only. I am not a doctor, nor am I a dietitian. Talk to your physician before making any changes in your diet or exercise regimen. The information found in this article is from various sources which include, but are not limited to, the sites listed above. I encourage you to do your own research and talk with your physician before making any changes in diet or exercise. What has worked for me may not work for you. This information in this article or on this website should never replace or serve as medical or mental health advice.

NEVER DISREGARD PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY SEEKING MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ ON OR HAVE ACCESSED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE.