"I Could Never Do That" ... And the Paradigm of Control

I was reading a blog the other day which discussed the frustration a blogger had at the attitude of other people when she explains the program to them and they say "Oh I could never do that".

Those of us who are engaged in the process or already on the success side of the equation, who have found results in a relatively simple plan, HAVE been doing "that" and are ecstatic at what can come with the right tools, and many times we are so excited to share with people just HOW we did it, only to be met with "oh, no, that may have worked for you, but I could never do that" attitudes and we just kind of shake our heads and wonder what they think WILL work for them?

This even applies on the TIME part of the equation.  In the last 4 years since beginning my healthy plan I have been able to both reach my health and fitness goals but ALSO I have been able to accomplish organizing my life around what matters most to me.  My husband came home from a conventional workplace situation and now homeschools our 9 year old son full-time (and mountain bikes the rest of the time LOL!) and I have worked hard to establish a successful business, one that affords us, in a addition to a livelihood, an exponential amount of TIME.

TIME to do what is important to us.  This includes TIME to exercise and take care of ourselves.

You see, I run across people who look at my life NOW and say "well, of course you can both do what you do and maintain your healthy lifestyle, YOU have the TIME to do it!"

Why yes, yes we do.

I worked hard to MAKE the time, and 4 years ago I had neither health NOR time but I had a plan and the right tools.  Because I TOOK the time and MADE the time and kept true to my health goals, I now HAVE more time.  The time did not come FIRST.  THAT is what I'm trying to say.

"Oh but I don't have TIME to eat 6 times a day"
"Oh but I don't have TIME to go for a 30 minute walk every day"
"Oh but I don't have TIME to cook a Lean and Green meal at home"
"Oh but I don't have TIME to go to the gym"

Time is a fixed currency.  We all have the same amount of it each day. 

What are YOU investing YOUR time in? 

My husband and I got rid of Cable TV just about the same time that I launched my business, and let me tell you how much TIME that saved us?  You don't have TIME?  Shall I check your DVR recorded programs to see how much TIME you think you WILL have to watch programs that interest you?  You make time for that.  Do you plop down on the couch after the kids are in bed and flip aimlessly through the channels to find something to occupy you mind? 

Then you have time.

 What I'm saying is that sometimes our concepts create our reality in a self-fulfilling sort of way.  If you say you never HAVE time, then you will never HAVE time.  If you change that statement and say "I will TAKE the time and MAKE the time" then you will do that.  First, I recognized and embraced the proper TOOLS to attain optimal health.  Three things were VITAL for this process of attaining and maintaining optimal health.

1)  With the correct INTAKE (the weight loss portion of our plan, then moving on to transition, then moving on to maintenance)
2)  The support and accountability of my HEALTH COACH and
3)  The bionetwork of support including Dr. A's Habits of Health to achieve a healthy  MIND in the process, I DOVE IN.  

 "I could never do what you do" regarding my Paris Marathon?


It was merely a continuation of the healthy mind I had been developing, and incrementally improving on adding the Habit of Healthy Motion (referenced also in Dr. A's Habits of Health).

Did you know I STARTED with the C25K Program?  The free podcasts?

It's called "Couch-Potato to 5K in 9 Weeks" and it literally takes you from a place of NOT BEING A RUNNER AT ALL to running a 5K in 9 weeks.  Yes, I started THERE.  Right THERE.  If you download the podcasts, you see that the first week instructions sound something like this (you listen to the instructions which are accompanied by music AS you run/walk):

"Walk for 5 minutes.....(5 minutes later).."You are about to run for 2 minutes.  Ready?  Go!"........(2 minutes later)....Great job!  You will now walk for 5 minutes.....(5 minutes later).."You are about to run for 2 more minutes.....Ready?  Go!"......."

BECAUSE I began that program, because I took the FIRST STEP, MY instructions theoretically now look like this:  "You are about to run for 7 hours.....ready?....GO!"

If I had never taken the time to begin, then I wouldn't be where I am today as regards my ability.  Same with my eating plan.  I started where everyone starts, buying the plan through my Health Coach, and reading the Plan Materials for the very first time.  Now my instructions and plan are the Maintenance portion, but it is still a plan, and it is the appropriate plan for what I have accomplished thus far in losing 149 pounds.  I remember the first time I put my cooked protein on a food scale so as to be compliant to the guide, and wondering "is this really necessary?"

YES!  Being faithful in the small things IS really necessary because only then can  you work into larger areas of responsibilities!  Had I lost 149 pounds overnight without submitting to the system and the plan, I would have been ill-equipped to be a good steward of my new healthy body!  I know we all want "it off" overnight.  But that very impatience and unrealistic attitude will be our UNDOING if we do not quell it and submit patiently to the process, and allow for the passage of time, being faithful in the SMALL things, like, YES, weighing our cooked protein.

It IS really necessary to master the essentials. 

We DO control what we put in our mouths.  We DO control how we spend out time.  We DO control our lives.  But some of us have CHOSEN to subject ourselves to outside influences and then start saying thing like "my job won't let me exercise" or "my job's breakroom won't let me stay on plan" and we then act as though we are NOT in control.  We are.  We are in control of REFRAMING the argument to view it in light of the truth that if WE are born in THIS country of opportunity, we ARE born FREE.  We are FREE to make our own decisions and no one has duct-taped you to a chair and is forcing those vending machine Munchos or Bugles or Peanut M&M's down your throat at gunpoint. 

If we are NOT in jail and NOT in the hospital, we DO have full control over what we eat, when we eat, and how much we eat.  We DO have full control over how much we move (exercise), when we move, and what we choose to participate in for our healthy movement.

So my question.  ARE you in control of your time?  ARE you in control of your actions?  ARE you in control of what you eat and how much you move?  If you feel you have relinquished control of ANY of these areas, then decide right NOW to take back control.  Do it today! 

DEFY the concept that you don't have enough "time" by getting up 1/2 hour earlier!  DEFY the concept that you can't exercise by USING that 1/2 hour to go for a WALK!  DEFY the concept that you don't have enough time to expand your business by TURNING OFF THE TUBE at night and instead making your calls or engaging in other activities to move your businesses forward, whatever your business is if you are self-employed!

You can because you can.

Some look at my trip today to Paris and think "Lucky Ducky, SHE gets to go to Paris for 11 nights, how did she luck into that?  Must be NICE"

I didn't LUCK into anything really, I took my CREATIVE juices and I CREATED THIS TRIP out of NOTHING.

Four years ago I possessed neither the TIME nor the FINANCIAL ABILITY nor the HEALTH ABILITY nor the FAMILY SITUATION ABILITY (my husband worked full-time and we had limited vacation) to be able to jet off to Paris for 11 nights and run a marathon.  But it was a spark.  So I started working on the HEALTH ABILITY by starting where I was AT (Class IV Super Obese walking with a cane) and took the next step of doing what I needed to do in order to achieve a HEALTHY BMI.   I became a healthy BMI.  In other words, I DID the WORK.

Three years ago I made the decision to PAY IT FORWARD and launched my business.   I started working on the financial ability by investing the time I could invest, and using the tools I had and the wonderful support system I had.  In other words, I DID the WORK.

One year ago I decided to take my health and fitness to the next level, and I began conditioning myself with running.

Six months ago I decided to purchase my ticket for the Paris Marathon because I NOW HAD, after FOUR YEARS, the FINANCIAL Ability, the Family Situation Ability, the Health Ability and the Fitness Ability to actually accomplish this dream.

So indeed, I guess I am a lucky duck.  To be born in a country where these things ARE possible.  To have been given support and encouragement along the way TO REACH my dreams.  Yes, I suppose I am a lucky duck.

And that lucky duck did a HECK of a lot of WORK to get the point where others could look at her and call it "lucky".

SO PLUG IN!  Engage the process!  Contact your Health Coach and get GOING on the FIRST STEP!!!  Who knows how "lucky" YOU'LL "get" to be!  =)