Saturday, May 1, 2010

The importance of a support system

"The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist, the opportunity in every difficulty."
~ L.P. Jacks


In last month's entry I spoke about motivation and how to stay motivated to achieve your desired results. Another major part that deserves its own posting is what I will be talking about here and that's having a good positive support system.

A lot of people fall into food and fitness traps because of a lack of a positive support system. Spouses, friends and of course family are all big parts of the equation in helping you to reach your goals. Lack of positive support and positive feedback leads to thoughts of "why am I doing all this for?", etc. and that is just not productive nor is it fair to you. Too many times people get to working out and dieting for other people and looking for acceptance, positive remarks, etc. It has to always begin and end with you, it is your body and health after all and no one, no matter how well intentioned can do it for you.

Studies show that a big reason for failure in diets and workouts, etc. is that spouses don't participate or get behind it because of insecurities, laziness, etc. Also, the spouse asks you to cook for them and of course, if they are eating non-diet food and you are cooking, well then you feel obligated to eat the same food, don't you? Now I'm not saying to not cook for your spouse! But, I want you to understand that this will be a temptation trigger that you will have to watch out for. Another failure reason is well intentioned family and friends who tempt you by inviting you out to places they know you will have a hard time fighting temptation at or home cooking of food items that are favorites. There will come a time when these temptations will be less but in the beginning it is up to you to let your friends, spouses and family know that you will need their help to fight temptation and to help you stay on track. Let them know that you are serious about your health and need their help keeping you focused and on track. Having the right support at the beginning is very important. It can be the difference between success and failure.

Most people have at least one person that they can count on in their support system and if you can't find that one person that will help you like you know you will need then it makes sense to invest in yourself with a good nurturing personal trainer and / or with a diet center like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc. or both! Most good trainers can help you with not only all your fitness needs but with your diet needs as well.

It took a lot of factors and time to get you to this point of where you are unhappy with your body, fitness and health and using the same support systems and dieting / exercising methods will take a different approach from not only yourself but those around you. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to reach out to them in helping you along this journey because you will need every weapon and advantage you can give yourself to get yourself to where you want to be. It can be a very fulfilling and satisfying experience for everyone involved if they can help you reach your goals and you all may learn a lot about each other along the way. Positivity is the goal. Positivity of self. Positivity of mind. Positivity of health, fitness and body. You can do it. You just have to believe and get started!