Let's talk a little bit about the little white lies we tell ourselves to give us the out, to talk ourselves into being okay with being heavy or to justify our absences from the gym. These little white lies hold us back from creating a healthy and fit body. So how do we take this way of thinking and change it? This is where we use your internal personal trainer. Stop telling yourself you are happy the way you are; expect more of yourself. Use the personal trainer you are developing within to squash the little white lies, including the lie that you are happy with who you are if you are fat.
There is nothing happy about being fat or obese and not being able to control your eating habits or weight. If you are truly happy, I guarantee you would be happier if you lost the weight, because no one wants to carry around an extra 50 or 100 pounds everywhere they go. I know this because if you gave a person who is fit an extra 50 or 100 pounds to carry around everywhere they went, they would be very unhappy. Saying you are happy with who you are or happy with being heavy is a cop-out, and since we're talking about little white lies, I'm going to call you out on it bluntly.
I know you would be happier not carrying the extra weight around because not only is the weight a physical burden, but it exposes you to prejudice every day of your life. And being judged (negatively) everywhere you go about the way you look cannot make anyone happy. It's a fact of life in our society that there are prejudices about people who are overweight. They are considered lazy, greedy, weak, and/or lacking willpower or self-control. People do not look at fat people and say to themselves, "I know she's beautiful inside." As human beings, our reactions to visual stimuli are thoughts that appraise or judge the form, without an immediate filter of political correctness. So I'm not going to talk about obesity in a politically correct way. I'm not going to mince words in order to save you a little embarrassment, because my goal is to encourage you to be accountable for your negative or unhealthy habits.
So now that we've dispensed with the use of little white lies to accept our extra weight, let's discuss how we can use the little white lies for motivation. If we return to the idea of self-assessment, we can use our imaginations to envision the fitter and leaner self we desire, and then we can create and write down some little white lies to help us with the process. For example, if you envision the way your face will look without excess weight, you might say, I love my beautiful, pronounced cheekbones. It is a little white lie, but one that can motivate us into creating a positive self-image. It's a projection of where we are going. Those little white lies are a forecast of the end of your journey, and they are important because they start the process of changing the mind. Telling yourself you are beautiful during your assessment because you can see a slender person who is not obese in your mind's eye creates a positive change.
These little white lies can help create a detailed positive image that, once created, can lead to more positive thoughts. Let's say you are imagining your arms are smaller, your face is more sculpted, your thighs are thinner, and then you can imagine the smaller person within. If you can imagine the person within as a stronger person, you will become stronger. We become what we imagine; we will become what our mind's eye sees. This is a great strategy to use even before setting goals because during the journey this is exactly what's happening. As you are losing weight you are becoming stronger. The simple fact that you are exercising will help to compact the bones in your body which will make your bone density stronger. Not having to carry around the extra weight will make you more flexible, more mobile, and even faster.
Telling yourself this ahead of time, before it actually happens, allows you to create that positive foundation we discussed earlier. Moreover, your mind will become stronger. At the end of your journey when your body is stronger, you are carrying around less weight, your muscles are showing, and your body is sculpted, your mind will be stronger. This can be for many people a complete transformation of a former self. Imagine you are the caterpillar who is beautiful -- fat and chunky-- but still beautiful. The caterpillar is carrying more weight in order to make it through its metamorphosis in the cocoon. That caterpillar then emerges as a lightweight, sleek butterfly. The butterfly that was once the caterpillar shows a significant change and so will you.
Michaelson William applies a unique philosophy and psychology when thinking about success in health and fitness. As a former Mr. North Carolina Bodybuilding Champion, Michaelson understands the physical, mental, and emotional underpinnings of success in health and fitness. He has been in the fitness industry for over twenty-five years, as a martial-arts expert, fitness consultant and author. This book distills the principles of his I'm Core Fit philosophy that he has successfully used to help clients at his local and virtual fitness studios.
