{Lightly edited video transcript below!}
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Getting the Courage to Start Something New for the First Time
Maybe it’s something that you haven’t done in years that you’ve been wanting to do, or maybe it’s something you had as a goal but it just seemed so, so far away from you. How do you gain that courage to start that new thing you’ve been wanting to do for the first time?
I want to use my dad as an example. He has spent the past 40 years of his life going down an unhealthy path. Not horrible, just habits that compound over time. Getting further away from activity. After a while, if you start to live that certain way, you start to establish new habits for yourself. Those habits become your new norm. And after 40 years it’s easy to get into this trap where you start to think, “Well, there’s no way I’m going to possibly change now. I’m 70 years old. I’ve always been like this”.
For my dad, this was reinforced by his doctor, who told him at a recent appointment, “Well, what do you think the chances really are of you establishing new ways and actually getting healthy and losing weight?” I think that moment did something to my dad. I have been running my own health and fitness business for the past four years, and my parents both stay with us for a lot of time during the year, so they’re seeing us make the healthy meals, follow a nutrition plan, get out and do exercise to take care of our body everyday. After a while, that kind of stuff rubs off on people. I think the combination of the doctor plus being immersed in our environment opened up a crack to the possibility of change.
You can’t force anyone or yourself to make a change. You have to genuinely want it!
You can’t force people to make a change – so you can never make them, or even convince them to make change in their life. The only thing that you can do to try to help people make that change is to keep living by example and to keep doing you and doing what’s best for you. You can only hope that inspires them to make some kind of change in their life. It’s really hard when you have been living a lifetime of unhealthy ways. But, change can ALWAYS be made, even after years, or decades, of being stuck.
Again, my dad is 70 years old and two weeks ago he decided to start following the same meal plan that my husband and I are following. So, myself, my husband, my mom, who’s also 70, and my dad, we all are on the same plan. We’ve been following it in our home every single day. We’ve been making all of our meals at home, filling them with lots of veggies, drinking a lot of water – making sure that our meals are balanced throughout the day, but also not having to worry about counting calories or portion control or anything like that. Keeping it simple so the routine and habits stick. Still eating the things that you love, but just learning how to eat throughout the day for every single meal, how to fuel our body the right way so that it functions throughout the day.
Create Change by Starting Small and Celebrating the Wins
On top of eating more vegetables and eating healthier, my dad has now also started to establish a new habit of getting up and doing a walk around the neighborhood. It started small. One lap around the block. It doesn’t matter if you are 50 pounds, 100 pounds away (or whatever goal it is that you’re trying to look for, it doesn’t even need to be health and fitness) you have to start somewhere. Just because you’ve lived a certain way for a certain amount of time for 40 plus years doesn’t mean that you can’t make a change. You can. You just have to be willing to take it day by day, take baby steps, celebrate the small wins along the way, and be extremely patient and consistent.
Anyway, my dad’s first walk was probably a half of a mile. Then, he decided to increase it – now, he walks outside of the neighborhood and he walks down through the botanical gardens near our house. He does about two miles a day now. And it’s becoming a new habit. If he doesn’t get it in the morning then he finds another time to do it. He went out at like 7 o’clock at night yesterday and got his walk in.
When I made this video, I’m actually in my car right now because I came out to pick him up because it is super stormy out today and down pouring. I got into the car to come and drive out and get him. He insisted on walking the entire rest of the way home and finishing the loop in the pouring rain. This is just shows how dedicated he is and how the habit is becoming important.
Results Happen Over Time even with Small Changes
And now my dad, over the course of 2 weeks, has lost 10 pounds. But it’s not even about the weight loss right – he does need to lose weight – but it’s more about he doesn’t even want any of that junk anymore. He hasn’t been perfect, and you don’t need to be perfect either with changes that you’re looking to make in your life, whether it’s health and fitness, financial, relationship changes, personality changes, you want to be a happier person. You have to start somewhere. It’s going to be slow and steady wins the race, understanding that it’s not going to be a perfect journey the entire way, that it’s more about you making progress little by little, and celebrating those small wins.
What you do MOST of the time matters
His clothes are starting to fit him much looser, and he’s just feeling so much better about himself. He doesn’t need to splurge the way that he did before. Sure, he’ll have a little piece of a dessert. He hasn’t been perfect these past two weeks, but he’s still made tons of progress, and the coolest thing to see is the progress he is making in his own mind. Now, instead of eating unhealthy most of the time, most of the time now over the past two weeks he’s been eating healthy!
If you want to keep continuing to be able to move, and keep up with your kids, and keep up with your grandkids, then you have to be willing to continue to move your body every day. It doesn’t need to be any kind of strenuous exercise, or P90X. You don’t need to go kill yourself at the gym. You don’t need to be doing any kind of hour to two-hour long work outs or go on for like five plus miles a day. It just means getting up and putting your body into motion every single day. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Negative choices that you make compound in a negative way.
And these changes have affected all of us. I have lost six pounds over the past nine days. My husband’s lost three pounds this week. My mom has lost five pounds this week. My dad, it’s got to be at least 10. It’s just amazing. When you commit, the success comes. Slowly perhaps, and not always in a straight line, but it always comes.
The Story You Tell Yourself Matters
No matter where you are in your life right now with whatever changes that you want to make – don’t keep telling yourself that you can’t change because you’re older. Don’t keep telling yourself that you’re too far away. There’s just no way that I’m going to ever be able to get there.
If you look at the end goal, guys, it’s going to be really defeating and really discouraging. That’s why you have to break it down. That’s why I teach my people that when you hit certain mini goals along the way, reward yourself!
You lose five pounds, go reward yourself with a new workout outfit.
You lose 10 pounds, go reward yourself with a brand new pair of sneakers,
Whatever it is that’s going to keep you excited!!
Don’t focus on the end goal. Take it little by little over time and you’re going to start to become addicted with the results that you’re getting and the way that you’re feeling, and it’s going to be much more motivating for you to continue.
Don’t Wait for Another Monday to Start
The most important thing that you can do is to just begin. Don’t wait for another Monday. Don’t wait for the cookout to come and go. Don’t wait for the new year. Start now. You can start today and make today a brand new start of an entire new year going forward without being perfect. You can still live your life, still have a drink here and there, still be able to enjoy your celebrations when your friends come out to visit or to go to parties. It’s not about being perfect. That is not reality and it never lasts. It’s about making MOST of your lifestyle changes in a positive direction.
The worst thing that you can do is continue to sit around, feel sorry for yourself, feel bad about yourself and the choices that you’re making in life, and feel like you’re stuck in this rut and that nothing can be done. Things can be done. You can make a change. It’s a mindset shift you need to make and it starts by you just making that one step forward. When you do that first step, you will be amazed because you will be one step closer toward your goal.
Cheer on my dad, guys. I’m super proud of him. I am determined to get him to lose like 50 pounds. We’re going to enter him into this awesome weight loss challenge. But most importantly, he’s going to just feel so much better about himself.
Thanks for tuning in guys, I really appreciate all your love and support all the time. You guys are amazing. Believe in yourself and take that first step today.
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