I was reading a blog post today by Adam Farrah, the creator of the Strong is the New Skinny Facebook group. You can read all his posts by googling him or joining the FB group. I find his writing very inspiring, so I would definitely recommend you take a gander.
Anyway, the post I read was all about momentum. Let's say that you are living a very self-destructive lifestyle. Perhaps you are a heavy drinker, a chain smoker, a diabetic still gorging on sugar, or a heroin addict. Before you can turn your life around and head in a new direction, you first have to slow down, and then completely STOP the momentum you have in that wrong direction. It will take a lot of energy, focus, commitment, time, and willpower just to stop. And you haven't even started out in a new direction yet.
But once you DO, and once you commit to that new direction, you will begin to build a new and healthy momentum. A force that will help keep you on the road to ever better health.
Perhaps you began the Whole Foods Challenge with me on September 1st. Maybe you found it difficult to halt your momentum in the direction you were already going. After all, you might have had habits in place that were hard to break. Maybe you always meet the ladies (or guys!) in your bookclub for tea and scones, or wine and dessert, or beer and pizza once a week. You could bring your own snack of healthy whole foods to bookclub, but that would demand a very high level of commitment and confidence. Maybe you just weren't feeling that committed yet. I'm sure you can see how much energy it might take just to stop yourself from continuing on your current path.
But let's imagine that you managed to make it through the entire month of September without allowing a sugary treat to pass your lips. (Yes, some people actually succeeded in this challenge!) NOW, at this point you have some momentum going in a new direction. Perhaps when your co-workers bring out the sugar-drenched coffeecake, you take a look and decide it is not worth it. You have strung together more than thirty days of success, so why would you throw it all away for a slice of store-bought, trans-fat-laden, insulin-spiking carbo-crap? Chances are much better that you would turn down the cake at this point.
The Alcoholics Anonymous slogan of One Day at a Time is an excellent one to remember here. Every time you make a positive, healthy choice, you are building a new habit. And the new habit will eventually have more momentum behind it than the old one. All you have to do is KEEP GOING!
Anyway, the post I read was all about momentum. Let's say that you are living a very self-destructive lifestyle. Perhaps you are a heavy drinker, a chain smoker, a diabetic still gorging on sugar, or a heroin addict. Before you can turn your life around and head in a new direction, you first have to slow down, and then completely STOP the momentum you have in that wrong direction. It will take a lot of energy, focus, commitment, time, and willpower just to stop. And you haven't even started out in a new direction yet.
But once you DO, and once you commit to that new direction, you will begin to build a new and healthy momentum. A force that will help keep you on the road to ever better health.
Perhaps you began the Whole Foods Challenge with me on September 1st. Maybe you found it difficult to halt your momentum in the direction you were already going. After all, you might have had habits in place that were hard to break. Maybe you always meet the ladies (or guys!) in your bookclub for tea and scones, or wine and dessert, or beer and pizza once a week. You could bring your own snack of healthy whole foods to bookclub, but that would demand a very high level of commitment and confidence. Maybe you just weren't feeling that committed yet. I'm sure you can see how much energy it might take just to stop yourself from continuing on your current path.
But let's imagine that you managed to make it through the entire month of September without allowing a sugary treat to pass your lips. (Yes, some people actually succeeded in this challenge!) NOW, at this point you have some momentum going in a new direction. Perhaps when your co-workers bring out the sugar-drenched coffeecake, you take a look and decide it is not worth it. You have strung together more than thirty days of success, so why would you throw it all away for a slice of store-bought, trans-fat-laden, insulin-spiking carbo-crap? Chances are much better that you would turn down the cake at this point.
The Alcoholics Anonymous slogan of One Day at a Time is an excellent one to remember here. Every time you make a positive, healthy choice, you are building a new habit. And the new habit will eventually have more momentum behind it than the old one. All you have to do is KEEP GOING!
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