I keep doing the same thing...

This is one of my favorite things to talk about.  I'm continually amazed how many people talk to me about what they want to achieve and what they are doing to achieve it.  They ask my opinion, I tell them...and they keep doing the same thing, but maybe vary it a tiny little bit.

Hmm...did it work before?  Well, in the beginning they say, but after a while they plateaued.  So they did it longer, harder, faster and that worked for a while and then...the plateau emerged.  So figuring something is better than nothing, they continue doing the same thing and getting the same result...zip, zilch, nada.

Most people I find, know what they need to do, but don't really want to do it unless provoked by an upcoming event.  Weddings, class reunions and a slinky black dress are usually enough to make the most hardened among us soften into submission.  Okay. I'm ready to listen, they say.   And you know what?  They actually do listen.  By now I have their full attention and they are ready to do what I ask them to do.

Everyone is different and while you can generalize people into categories, there is some fine-tuning needed with every individual.  Our bodies don't always respond the way we want them to and expect them to.  That can be very frustrating and I'm sympathetic to the despondency to which that leads.  But I also know that whatever the mind can conceive, the body can achieve.  I've seen it far too many times when we are pressed into action we will do it or die trying.

Most everyone will give it the "old college try".  That's usually about 4-12 weeks.  The most tenacious will hold out for 6 months before throwing in the towel.  That's a shame because one thing they fail to remember is they did not arrive in this shape in one day, one month or even one year.  It took many years to perfect the condition your body is in and to fine-tune the mechanisms by which it responds.  To think that cleaning up our lifestyle and changing our habits for 4-12 weeks is going to get us where we want to be...well, that is just another definition of insanity.

Your body had become very good at adapting to the way you've been treating it.  It has adjusted very well to the abuse you have dished out over the years.  You know what I'm talking about.  Eating too much, eating too little, smoking, imbibing excessive quantities of alcohol, swimming in the stress pool too often, eating too late, skipping breakfast, sporadic workouts, weekend warrior expeditions, sleeping too much, sleeping too little, eating crap, no regular physical checkups, breathing smog, drinking too little water, emotional carnage, spiritual neglect, OCD, too many medications, too much sun exposure...the list goes on and on.

So if you think cleaning up your act for even six months is going to get you where you want to be, you are sadly mistaken and being mislead by mainstream media and irresponsible marketing.  There is no magic pill, powder or potion.  No mystical product, no cutting-edge medical breakthrough that will get you where you want to be.  Think about that for a moment.  If there was such a product, potion, pill or procedure that would get you where you want to be AND KEEP YOU THERE, we'd all be buying it, taking it and living happily ever after.

The sad truth is THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS.  You cannot short circuit your way back to health, wellness and fitness.  You have to stop doing the same things you have been doing all these years and start doing the things that are really going to make LONG TERM differences in your life.

Take heart.  There are millions of people that have gone before you into this brave new world.  You are not alone and don't have go figure this all out for yourself.  I would expect you to learn along the way as you start slowly making those changes that will put you back on the course to achieving your goals.

It all starts with making the commitment to change what you do, one detrimental habit at a time.  Once you've decided that you can and will do this, you are on your way to success.  The next step is to find someone to help guide you down that path blazed by generations before you.