BY EMMET RUSHE: I’m going to ask you a question….
This might seem odd to you. You might even disagree with me, but what I’m about to ask you could be the biggest reason why you are not sticking to the goals that you set out for yourself at the start of the year.
Is your social circle preventing you from losing weight?
Whenever you begin to take control of your health and initially start your journey into weight loss, people will be happy for you. You will receive a lot of encouragement and this will help spur you on.
But….after a while, you will begin to notice some small changes in how some of your friends, family and work colleagues act around you.
This will be subtle to begin with.
Actually it will be like the scene in ‘Jaws’… the person is swimming in the ocean, blissfully unaware that anything strange is happening. Then the music starts…Duh, Duh….Duh, Duh. Then all of a sudden, SNAP!
This is pretty much how it goes when you start. It could be some small remarks, maybe regarding how you are eating, or maybe you declined the usual Friday night ‘after work’ drinks.
Then, you begin to lose weight, or maybe you drop a dress size. All of a sudden the water gets a bit choppier.
The small indirect comments will become direct ones. There will be questions; lots of confusing, conflicting questions and some of the stories will be so absurd, they have to be true, don’t they?
Questions like:
* ‘Why do you want to lose weight’?
* ‘I don’t know how you can eat like that’
* ‘You can’t miss another night out’?
The stories that you will hear will go something like this:
* ‘2 litres!, I know this one person who drank that much water and they died!’
* ‘When you stop training all your muscle will turn to fat, you should just stop now!’
* ‘You are just depriving yourself. Give in now and it will save you all the heartache later on. You know you will give up anyways.’
This is the undercurrent that will eventually drag you down into the murky depths of despair.
The real question is why would your family and friends do this? Why would they try and prevent you from achieving your goals?
The answer is simple. They cannot help it.
Change makes people uncomfortable, really uncomfortable. When you start to lose weight all of their insecurities about themselves are being highlighted. The more you succeed, the more they realise their own failings and hence the more they want you to fail. But don’t be angry. They probably don’t even realise that they are doing it.
Now, I am not saying that everyone will do this, but I’m sure that everyone reading this has at one time or another been subject to this sort of behaviour.
So, what do you do?
Invite your friends and work colleagues to join you. If you can create a social circle that is actively involved in your goals, your ability to achieve them will be easier.
Stay focused on your goals, there will always be temptation, there will always be an easy option, don’t take it.
You can sink into the murky waters of negativity, or you can swim past the sharks and get to where you want to go.
#TrainSmart
For further information on Personal Training and Nutrition you can contact me through the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rushe-Personal-Training-and-Performance/120518884715118
* Emmet is the owner and operator of Rushe Personal Training and Performance
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