Achieving The Body You’ve Always Wanted!
Many of us wish we could achieve the physiques we see on television, in magazines, or even in some of our acquaintances or friends. We all desire to look a certain way in our effort to feel good about ourselves – to improve our self-image or our self-esteem. While this is true of nearly all people, the reality is only a few of us actually are willing to do the work to attain such a look. The people we see whom we admire for their physical characteristics, usually have spent countless amounts of time intermingling a proper diet and exercise regimen to have attained those physical characteristics and have generally done so by incorporating those activities into their lifestyle.
What I mean by this is that their lifestyle is to them what your lifestyle is to you! It is not “difficult,” in the traditional sense, for these people to maintain their habits as it is ingrained into their day much as your habits are ingrained into your day. To achieve is to see your goal as a reality, not as a distant obsession too hard to ever obtain. If you are having a difficult time acquiring and sustaining a positive habit, you need to look at the positive attribute as “part of your personality.” In other words, a fit person does not make choices on a whim; their choices are pre-set and they give themselves no choice to make a bad decision. An example is as follows:
A vendor brings in doughnuts to your facility as a gesture of appreciation. Some people automatically will take a doughnut; others will wrestle with the thought of taking a doughnut—and then take a doughnut; others will see the doughnuts and never consider taking one!
In the latter case, the individual didn’t take a doughnut because it was an option that did not exist! There was no choice to be made; it was pre-set prior to the doughnuts ever appearing. In the same way, a fit person goes through their day with pre-set choices regarding the gym, diet, exercise, outside activities, and many other parameters. These pre-set choices are not difficult, restrictive circumstances whereby a person denies himself; they are lifestyle choices. In other words, if you cannot resist chocolate, the problem lies within your mind as you are giving yourself a choice; if the choice did not exist, you would not eat the chocolate!
The lesson here is to give yourself parameters on issues and take away the choice. If you want to be a fitness model, you must see yourself as a fitness model. Fitness models go the gym and eat a good diet; therefore, you go to the gym and eat a good diet. I don’t mean you should, I mean you do! If you see yourself as what you want to be instead of seeing it as a dream for in the future, you will do as that person would do! It is a philosophy of “you are” not a philosophy of “I am trying to be.” It is a change of perception. If you “perceive” you are what you dream of, then you “are” what you have dreamed of becoming. This does not mean you can rest on your laurels! What this does mean, is that you see yourself as a success and not always as striving for that success.
Once this perception of choices is made, you will find that those poor choices just melt away and the good choices naturally just happen. Remember, there is no choice; set your parameters where you want them to be and become the person you want. Soon, you will look in the mirror and see what you always knew was already there! Remember, perception is reality and by changing your perception, you change your reality.
Kevin Andrew is a Registered Dietitian and Amateur Bodybuilder.