Without taking responsibility for your eating, you will continue lying awake at night, feeling sad and uneasy about what you ate and unhappy with what you see in the mirror or your latest Facebook photos. It’s during these moments that those seemingly plausible excuses no longer wash and reality hits you square in the face.
Have you ever experienced that moment when you knew you shouldn’t eat that extra piece of something, but a little voice within said, “It’s OK, you deserve this one—let’s start fresh tomorrow”? Within a couple of hours, however, that same voice was probably shaming you for eating it. Sadly, this pattern is a popular one.
A necessary key to long-term weight loss and happiness is to get really interested in this little voice in your head that feeds you all those seemingly plausible excuses, yet keeps you up at night for making them. Realize that you don’t have to act on these thoughts if they are not in line with your goals. Instead, learn to respectfully restructure them.
Self-responsibility is about no longer letting that little voice run your life. It’s about taking charge of your mind and no longer succumbing to the incessant thinking, obsessing, and stressing that takes place in your head.
Decide What You Want
It’s time to stop the joking and the dreaming about losing weight: either you want it or you don’t. If you don’t, then that’s fine—keep doing what you are doing. But, if you catch yourself feeling guilty about your weight, what you are eating, or feel depressed and uncomfortable about your physical self, then you probably aren’t honoring your body or taking responsibility for your physical and emotional state.
If you can relate to this, then perhaps it’s time to become self-responsible.
You probably think I am going to start up now about goal setting, vision boards, and desire. While that may work, we all know how to set goals, so I am not going to cover that. Likewise, we all know that feeling of burning desire from within during moments of inspiration, when you swear that this time you are going to make it happen.
Whether this ends up being just another fleeting moment of inspiration or the catalyst for change depends on whether you choose to authentically step into self-responsibility.
This means not just setting goals, but also owning them by taking the actions necessary to achieve them. This means actually preparing, planning, and following your meal and exercise plan, rather than just plodding along and hoping that you will end up losing weight. This means not accepting the excuses that your mind regularly feeds you.
Remember, “If nothing changes, then nothing changes.” There is no such thing as weight loss by proxy.
No Excuses
The key thing here is that you can no longer let your mind get away with making excuses as to why you can’t start or stick to your weight-loss goals. Without this, you will undoubtedly end up eating or making excuses against your true desires.
Yes, I am quite passionate about this. And, yes, I am calling you to action. But, let’s be clear: This isn’t about shaming yourself or beating yourself up for eating poorly or straying off plan. I am definitely not into forcing you into an unsustainable, mentally stressful diet; I am against the whole “just deal with it” attitude that is way too popular in the industry.
Rather, this is about realizing that if this is something you truly want, then you can get it by treating your body with respect and living, eating, and training in line with your goals. No longer accept the excuses from your mind that keep you from reaching your goals.
Self-responsibility, for me, is about loving yourself enough to actually honor your goals. It’s about realizing, “Yes, I am worthy of having my dream body, and I am ready to support myself through the fear and roller coaster of emotions that come with a lifestyle change.”
Self-Responsibility Checklist
• Realize that “if it is to be, it’s up to me.” Nobody can lose weight for you! Similarly, nobody can eat clean for you, either. You have the power to ensure eating in line with your goals at every meal—harness it.
• Decide that you are going to own your weight-loss goals and set this intention daily. This is a way of living—not a fleeting inspirational moment.
• Become acutely aware of your thinking—notice your thoughts. Do not follow negative, self-limiting thoughts and realize that you don’t have to act on compulsive ideas, either.
• Pull yourself away from your excuses. Challenge them and rewrite the story.
• Introduce this as a daily practice. This is not a simple one-off solution. You have been practicing self-defeating patterns for your entire life, so don’t expect it to change overnight.
By following these principles in your daily life, you will set the foundation for living self-responsibly. With time and practice, you will bring about an internal shift in which dieting, weight loss, and maintaining your goal weight will no longer be a mental struggle.
If getting lean, being healthy, and feeling in control of your eating are your goals, then why on earth would you do anything that would move you away from this experience?
Living from a place of self-responsibility makes it really simple—you actually enjoy treating your body with respect because you are living in line with your goals. This brings an indescribable level of joy, contentment, and ease to your eating and exercise experience, which makes it impossible to live any other way.
This is the real secret to living lean for life—nurturing a sense of self that would make it seem ridiculous to do anything other than what is necessary to reach your goals. Once you have reached this point, it really becomes incredibly easy and enjoyable.
Fusing the latest in sports, performance, and weight-loss nutrition with holistic wellness practices, while cultivating true emotional and lifestyle balance, Anthony and his team at PURE and LEAN Nutrition System transform the bodies, minds, and lives of everyday people all over the world. Learn more at www.facebook.com/pureandlean.
