On the road to weight loss, fitness,and health, you can easily becomediscouraged. In fact, discouragementis what leads many people to give-upwhen they may have been near a pointof significant progress and encouragementin their program.
I've put together my "top 10" points ofencouragement to help keep your spiritshigh on your road to weight loss,fitness, and health.
1. It does get better - and often veryquickly! Many people that aresignificantly overweight or that havebeen sedentary for a long time, find anyactivity, even walking a few hundredfeet, to be very difficult anduncomfortable. Be encouraged, manyphysiological changes happen very quicklyonce you start moving. Walking, forexample, starts getting easier and morecomfortable within a couple of weeks.Keep moving - every day will be a littlebetter! Be encouraged!
2. I love this lady's story. It justmakes you want to cheer for her whilesitting at your computer. Margie fromMadison, Wisconsin weighed 296 poundswhen she started walking in herneighborhood. She says she started bywalking about half a block twice a dayand that it was incredibly difficult atfirst.
After the second day she had decided toquit but a neighbor encouraged her tocontinue. Every day she walked the sameroute but added a little distance eachweek. She says there were many days whenshe wanted to quit, but she wanted verybadly to lose weight and be healthy.After several months the people in herneighborhood started noticing herconsistency and her progress and startedgiving her compliments and words ofencouragement. She said that after afew months of walking, it went frompainful to enjoyable.
About ten months into her walking program,she began her morning walk as usual, butshe noticed people out in their yards. Asshe passed each yard they were clappingand cheering for her, "go Margie", "we'reproud of you Margie", "congratulationsMargie!" She said tears of happinessflowed through her entire walk thatmorning as over a hundred people cheeredher on all along her route! Be encouraged!
3. The visible signs of progress in aweight loss program are often very slowto come. Healthy weight loss takes time,but that can be very discouraging. Beencouraged to know that for each day thatyou exercise and eat healthy foods inmoderate quantities, you have madeprogress. It might not be measurable thatday, but you have made progress and itwill be measurable over a period of weeksand months. Be encouraged!
4. Katherine was 43 years-old and hadbeen sedentary for 20 years. The scalehad not changed in those 20 years - shestill weighed 136 pounds, but she knewshe had lost muscle and gained fat. Herwaist was bigger and she couldn't fitinto the same size clothes that she did20 years earlier. What bothered hermost was that she was always tired andnever had energy.
She decided to start walking and weighttraining but quit after a week. She said,"it's too uncomfortable, I can't keepdoing this." I encouraged her to continueand told her that it would get better.She "quit" three times during the nexttwo weeks. We talked frequently.Six weeks later she started to noticesome muscle tone and she noticed thather endurance and energy level hadincreased dramatically. She said,"I'm very encouraged!"
Eight months later she had gained twopounds on the scale but lost threeinches in her waist - and she walkeda marathon! Yeeeeeeesss! Be encouraged!
5. The whole idea behind physicaltraining is that you push your body todo a little more than it's comfortablewith and it responds by making physicaland physiological changes. These changesmake you capable of doing a little morewith less discomfort. Be encouraged!
6. Gerald in New Orleans, Louisianalost 85 pounds after he started walkingand weight training. Once he had lostthe weight, he decided to do somethingthat would allow him to fully appreciatehis weight loss. For an entire day, hecarried around a sack that contained 85pounds of metal weights.
Getting around during that day was astruggle and very tiring. At the end ofthe day he was exhausted! Life withoutthe weight is great! Be encouraged!
7. Keep records of your progress. Everyday write down the positive changesyou've noticed and also keep a recordof the exercise you do every day. Writedown what you did, how long you did it,and any thoughts about your exercisethat day. Keep a running total of yourminutes. You can look back at whatyou've done with a great sense ofaccomplishment and you'll be motivatedto do more. Be encouraged!
8. Daily exercise will change your life!I believe God designed humans to beactive on a daily basis. Why? becausewhen you are, lots of good things happen..
- you are healthier
- you feel better and have more energy
- you are less likely to develop cancer,heart disease, stroke, etc.
- you sleep better
- you have a better outlook on life
- your relationships with people areenhanced
- your skin looks healthier
- you are sick less often
- your immune system is stronger
- you lose fat
- you gain toned, lean muscle
- you look healthier
Be encouraged!
9. Betty Jo in Tuscaloosa, Alabama wroteto me.. "Greg, After 24 years of beingmarried to a grouchy, pessimistic manwho didn't enjoy life, I saw all thatchange over a period of about a year.Harold was the classic 70 poundoverweight couch potato when he wasscared into exercising and healthiereating habits by the death of his 46year-old friend."
Harold's doctor recommended that hestart walking every morning and aftera couple of weeks Harold told Betty Jothat he wanted to start eating better.Harold really took-off with this "healththing" and lost 72 pounds and become anew man - inside and out. In Betty Jo'swords, "I have a new husband. He walksfor an hour every morning and he is a joyto be around. His enthusiasm for lifemakes our marriage fun." Be encouraged!10. Progress and improvement generateencouragement. YOU can progress andimprove and be encouraged to do more.Tomorrow morning, put on your walkingshoes and take a walk, even if it's justa few minutes. The next day, do itagain - progress and improve.
Be encouraged!
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