All the best xx

When you first met Endo – he was a friend who you thought – geez will I ever live up to his expectation of me…. that guy is so powerful, energetic, always happy & so full of real energy. That is who I want to be. …. and then as you stuck out the relationship ( many don’t ) you came to realise that you could cut the mustard and started to feel just like Endo himself. Energy in the morning to get out of bed to exercise, healthy glow people would comment on, dropping weight to feel like the old you again – even had time for your partner in the bedroom to go more than one round – this life is terrific ! All the hard work getting here was worth it and even over time, this lifestyle is just so manageable.

Then Endo left – just like that. No warning. No, “I’ll be gone for a little while on holidays”. No notes, no sweet goodbyes and to make things worse – you could see that he was “seeing” your other friends still. Catch ups with the girls made it too hard to be around his “other besties”. Of course everyone had their advice on how you could win Endo back, but nothing seems to work.

I got a lightbulb for you Amanda ! As when you first started to do exercise – it is tough – no two ways about it. Endo – or more commonly known as the “Endorphins” that race around your body when you start to exercise – are something that over time like a new best friend , becomes addictive. Like an addict – it feels like cold turkey when you first cannot do any exercise – however – here is the news…. you can do something !

Now the ‘something’ may not be what you usually like to do or even are very good at. The key is to persist and just keep on doing it. Get your body moving to a new tune. Take up something completely out of your comfort zone and commit to doing it over several weeks – not just several days. Employ a friend to try it out with you. Take your kids along for the journey if you have some, if not mine are available for hire… joking guys. Mark your progress – even if it is just turning up somewhere, so you can see your progression.

The thing is – what we are least good at , is the very best thing for our body. Keep that mantra in your head. You may not start off liking swimming , yoga, cycling etc – however you are moving your body , getting circulation going and guess what …. Endo may even rear his head to say g’day again.

Invest in a good Personal Trainer ( make sure you search around for someone specialised in the area of exercise you want to begin ), commit to a good length of time and set yourself a goal.

I won’t wish you good luck as luck has nothing to do with it – sheer hard work – but then again – you are know are up for hard work – so just get to it !

p.s. email me your results !

Amanda, grab a cup of tea and bear with my whilst I tell you a story.

In a land not so far away from here and at a time not too long ago.
There lived a tenacious, energetic supremely fit women. She hadn’t always been that way and had spent years learning properly how to move her body on land and water and wind. My god she loved it so much that she wanted everyone around her to feel and do the same so she began training people from sloth to active showing them the correct way, the lasting way to excellent health and fitness. She was in her element.

Then one day whilst doing the one thing she loved so much an accident occurred. Not her fault, though she would blame herself.

No longer able to exercise for a time, her fitness began to decline, dejected, so too did her inspiration. She made a choice. A decision was made – “it’s all too hard, why even bother” and from that day she began to decline towards decay.

All of the energy she used to put into her health and well being she pushed toward self destruct. Chocolate was her drug of choice all 25k of it. Her body bloated became stiff and immobile and so too did her mind atrophied on one speed, Stop. She sunk into a depression and gave up caring, wallowing in self pity and self loathing. She did her job well.

Fortunately however for this woman deep inside her was a memory a flicker of a reminder of what she used to be capable of and every now and again she would glance at a lithe body or her rusting bike and question “will that ever be me”.. Most of the time however she didn’t really care anymore.

Then one day she started hearing some words negative words coming from her once positive mouth. They struck her as awful she did not like them.
“How destructive,” she thought. Do i really want to be like that. People dont want to hear those thoughts so she became more mindful of her words. Slowly one day her mind began to follow.

A woman she knew began to lose some weight and it was becoming increasingly noticeable. Wow, what a difference and in a relatively short space of time. How was she doing it, she had to know as it was obviously working… Meal replacement and exercise,,,hmmm.

The woman continued to watch the other womans progress. As they were both discussing this fabulous shift it occurred to her that if the other woman could do it then so could she. She just wasn’t ready I mean what about her chocolate addiction, her obese body could barely move. She’d literally moved and was no longer able to do the same kind of training she was used to. Excuse after excuse emitted from her mouth whilst she stood talking with the shrinking woman before her. Right there and then it was like a light switch had turned on.

It is all a matter of choice.

She could stay stuck in her story wallowing in self or she could do something about it. Oh my God she had a choice. She was in control of how all this worked out. It wasn’t complicted, it was easy. Yes easy.
Simply decide your going to do it. That’s it.

Boom decision made. She decided she was going to do something about her weight and lack of fitness there and then. The next choice was how.
Standing in front of her the lady taking the meal replacement suppliment would she do that. She nearly said yes, until another switch turned on in her brain. Hadn’t she learned that fad diets were not a lasting way to optimal health, didn’t she used to teach that to others in the past.

Was she going to go against her integrity to get what she wanted.

Absolutely catagorigally NO. No way ,she was going to do it this the way she knew how with healthy eating and exercise.

The very next morning was as though a cloud had lifted with a clear mind and a good intention she took her first steps moving her body. She cold no longer run or feel the wind quite how she had in the past nor could she quicken her step for very long, but that walk that inhalation of fresh air ,oxygen life and movement was like a song of joy for her mind, body and sole.

And so she began her journey back to health and wellness. She was out there the next day and the next until it was so familiar she couldn’t imagine not doing it ever again.

I guess the moral to this story Amanda is we all have one simple choice Yes or No. We can make excuses of how we can no longer do something the way we used to or we can change the way we do things. If you cant run then swim or walk or ride it won’t feel the same but you’ll soon get used to it. Walk, stretch do yoga soon it will become as familiar to you as though it is all you have ever done.

Do whatever it is that you can do now, right now today, the rest will come as you progress. Don’t be me and wait until you have gained 25k.

Start now. You’ll be glad you did

Enjoy the journey.

Michelle

Amanda – there is a perfect example of a REASON to do something. Raising money to build a school in a third world country. Very inspiring, Michelle – you rock!

Hey Craig? What would it take for a bunch of us here on you-dot-com to come up with a project bigger than ourselves and fundraise for a greater cause – like what Michelle in Canada is doing with her rowing 100km event? Who here would be keen?

The Craig Harper Foundation? “Jules – I already have enough on my plate, thanks.” Err, sorry – but this is a REALLY GOOD CAUSE.

Craig says (and you know it) “It’s not about the motivation…”

Craig also says that it’s all about attitude. Maybe you need to change your attitude about exercise? What would it take for you to enjoy swimming or walking? All it would take is a shift in your attitude, that’s what. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO, NOT ON WHAT YOU CAN’T.

But, what if you were to go to the doctor tomorrow and after a bunch of tests YOU were diagnosed with cancer? What then?

I’m not pointing the finger just at you, Amanda. It could serve as a wake up call for everyone struggling right now. With finding the ‘motivation’ or finding the ‘time’ or the ‘energy’ to exercise. Or to change your career. Or to make things right with your kids. Or to fix up your finances. Or do whatever they need to do to start to create their best life and contribute to this world in a meaningful way.

I’m a not-so-frequent commenter here anymore, but some of Craig’s readers know I recently completed my first ironman triathlon in New Zealand last month – a 3.8 km swim, 180 km on the bike, and a full 42.2 km marathon. There is an official cutoff of 17 hrs. I crossed the line in 16:12:00. I am a frequent reader of a triathlon forum and recently found out one of the members (‘Fezza’) is battling cancer. I have not yet met her but she sounds like a fighter. And I want to meet her. She has entered Ironman Western Australia which is on the Dec 5 and I’d say that is one of her key ‘motivators’ right now. A lot of people would just give up. She is not going to be one of those. (Here is the thread if you need ‘inspiration’ to battle on with your own stuff: http://forums.transitions.org.au/index.php?showtopic=42938) A lot of us are changing our avatars to an image of Elmo to show our support to ‘Fezza.’

I shared that little story with you because I don’t want you to give up. I don’t know anything more about you other than what you have shared so far. I just think you (and everyone else struggling) needs to find a REASON to do what it is you know you need to do. Accept facts. Move on. I don’t know the extent of your injury and if you’ll ever be able to return to running. From memory, Craig wrote a post titled something along the lines of ‘the why behind the what.’ I’ll try and find it. Found it. December 2008. http://www.craigharper.com.au/psychology/the-why-behind-the-what/ I’d highly suggest you read it. It doesn’t matter what your reason is, but you need to have one. Then I believe you’ll find it easier to move on from the point that you now find yourself.

Again, take care and believe in yourself. Flood your world with positive people. No one is telling you to qualify for the nex Olympic Games are they?