Steps to a better me...

This is a great post that I needed to read desperately...thought I would share!

Fit Tip #1! Watch Your Language!

Life presents all of us with obstacles, challenges that could stand in our way of fitness success. I firmly believe that for each obstacle there is a strategy and a way to overcome in order to reach your own personal potential!

Want to be a fitness success? Here’s is my first tip for you, watch your language! Now I know you're asking yourself, how is watching my language going to help me succeed when it comes to achieving the fitness results that I want? Whether your goal is to be a competitor and get on stage, or you just want to get in the best shape of your life, you may be sabotaging your fitness goals and not even realize it. Negative self talk may be holding you back from believing in yourself and achieving your ideal physique!
Do you say "I'll Try" to get my work outs in this week, or "I'll Try" to eat clean today? Right off the bat you are allowing yourself a way out of your commitment, simply by the words you are choosing to identify your fitness goal. When you say, "I'll Try" instead of "I will" then if you don't follow through you can tell yourself, "Well, I tried." Saying you will "try" is not making a firm commitment. It's an easy way to avoid taking personal responsibility for your actions! Instead use powerful words! Say, “I WILL” strength train three times this week! “I WILL” prepare my food ahead of time and eat clean all day.
Do you say, "I can't train for a competition because I've got kids (or a spouse who doesn't eat healthy, or co-workers who want to go out to eat all the time)"? First of all I firmly believe that if you tell yourself you “can’t” do something, you are absolutely right. If you tell yourself you “can” do something, once again, you are absolutely right. You create your own personal limitations, and using “weasel” words like “I can’t” or “I’ll try” limit what you will actually be able to accomplish in this life.
If you have thought of competing but haven’t committed yet, how long have you been talking about it? I will come clean and confess that I too procrastinated and put off my goal of competing for three whole years! When I finally buckled down and started training for my first show, my only regret was wasting so much time to get serious about my goals! I realized that I was not being careful with my language. I kept saying that someday I would do it, someday I would commit to my training and diet. It wasn’t until I changed my thinking and the words that were coming out of my mouth that I finally started achieving all of my fitness dreams.

According to Dr. James Prochaska there are stages of readiness to change. If you are making statements such as “I’ll try” or “I might” you are in a “contemplation phase” meaning you aren’t ready to commit. A step up from this is the “preparation phase” this is where you may dabble in some activities that could aid you in achieving your goal but you haven’t dedicated yourself completely. Perhaps you eat clean and get your training in for a week and then revert back to old excuses and behavior the following week. Or you do really well all week long and then lose any progress by binging out on the weekend. When the “preparation phase” becomes an “action phase” that is when you have moved from just talking about a goal to actually taking the necessary steps to achieve it. Watching your mouth and speaking affirmatively about your goals can be a powerful tool to move you from preparation to action.
I think the best way to get motivated, move into an action phase, and change your language is to set goals with definitive deadlines. You need to be specific about what you are going to accomplish, how you are going to accomplish it, and by what date you will have achieved it. Once you have this part done ask yourself, “What can I do today that will get me one step closer to achieving success?”
If you are an aspiring competitor, what better deadline could there be than to sign up for a show? Taking this step will spark your motivation like you wouldn’t believe! Suddenly there will be no room for weasel words because you know that you have to be on stage in your best condition possible by that certain date. Be sure to give yourself a realistic timeline, if you have 50-100 pounds of fat to lose don’t choose a show that is in two months from now, choose one that is in six months to a year and start making the necessary changes to your eating and exercise habits right now in order to make your dream a reality.
Pay close attention to the language that you use every day. Remember that the choices you make are YOUR choices. Making the necessary changes, creating the habits in your life that are essential to be a competitor (or just to lead a more fit and healthy lifestyle!) will also aid you in being a healthier person, a more active mother or father, a more energetic and healthy wife or husband, girlfriend or boyfriend. Take charge of your actions! Tell yourself that you and only you can make these changes. You need to say "I can eat right, I can be disciplined and dedicated, I can develop the lifestyle habits that will allow me to succeed at achieving my fitness dreams!" Once you've made that decision and tell yourself this, you can find strategies to overcome the obstacles that life throws in your way.
You have choices in life. Living fit and healthy is a choice. Making the commitment to become a competitor is a choice. It is something that you can do… yes, even you! What are you waiting for? If you have a goal you need to go for it, don't procrastinate any longer. Start saying "I will" today!