Believing in Yourself

“If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won't, you most assuredly won't. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.” Denis Waitley

It’s not a feeling I have to often in the gym and it’s certainly one I am not comfortable with. Disappointment with my workout. Now it’s not for a lack of trying, but when circumstances in life become overwhelming, your body seemingly deals with daily stressors however it chooses and for me, its fatigue and a lack of energy. Regardless of how motivated I was to do well in my workout, my body failed me. In my attempt to do overhead reverse/forward lunges, I was fatigued by the 3rd set and my quads started to burn and tingle in pain. Regardless of how my body felt, I pushed through that workout and today I feel all the better for it. But I left the gym feeling defeated and disappointed. But I didn't give up.

Giving up is something I know a bit about. How many diets did I try only to give up and resign to “normal” eating again. I think many of us who carry extra weight don’t believe that we can lose it. We hang on to this belief like that of a moldy old sofa, so familiar that it has an imprint of your arse on it. Rather than extracting it to find something better (healthier), we hang on to it for its familiarity. There’s an old saying I tell myself, “We remain the same until the pain of remaining the same exceeds the pain of change.” (author unknown).

Changing my thinking and eating habits was the only way I finally succeeded. Back in 2005 when I first embarked on this diet, I didn’t know this was it. I knew I was fed up with the weight being a barrier for me and I was determined to lose it, but I didn’t know how successful I would be at this attempt. Something clicked this time and it felt right and it worked. Eating healthy is no longer optional. It’s a given. It’s the cheating/deviating from plan that I struggle with. The guilt feelings associated with this are still difficult to overcome, but it’s getting better.

What I am learning is that I have a choice, either I can let my thoughts dictate my emotions or not. So, back to my disappointing workout...I believed in myself to see it to the end, regardless of how crappy I was feeling through it. Today I’ll go for a run and tomorrow I’ll be back at the gym because there is no giving up.