“I wonder IF I’ll work out today?”
“I wonder IF I’ll plan my meals today?”
These are questions that a lot of people ask each day. Early on in my fitness journey I found that I would ask these questions A LOT. Part of this was finding my MOTIVATION. I had to center in on my WHY – WHY did I really want to get in shape? What would motivate me to get up out of bed at 5:45am and put my body through a routine that would cause it intentional discomfort? And why would eating clean be important enough to TAKE TIME out of my very busy schedule between 2 jobs, being a husband, father, volunteer for our girls’ schools, etc?
I was able to ask a few questions that might help you:
1. IF I WERE TO CONSISTENTLY LOOK AND FEEL MY BEST, HOW WOULD THIS IMPACT MY PRESENT AND MORE IMPORTANTLY MY FUTURE?
2. I REALIZE THAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME THIS BODY TO STEWARD WISELY, WHY AM I NOT FOCUSING ON HONORING HIM WITH THIS IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE?
3. WHAT THINGS IN MY LIFE COULD BE PRIORITIZED A BIT LESS IN ORDER TO MAKE HEALTH/FITNESS A TOP PRIORITY IN ORDER TO LIVE A LIFE THAT HONORS GOD IN EVERY AREA?
4. WHAT DAILY HABITS WOULD NEED TO CHANGE IN ORDER FOR ME TO ACHIEVE MY GOALS?
So, I began to visualize what the answers to these questions might look like, feel like, BE like. I began to understand that my DAILY HABITS were going to have to be the things that had to change. This is part of a concept that often makes a lot of people cringe:DISCIPLINE. Understanding that my father and grandfather had passed away due to diabetes, I knew that their daily food habits weren’t where they needed to be to live out the answers to the questions above.
I’m learning to now ask DIFFERENT QUESTIONS than I did in beginning of my fitness journey. And these still take DISCIPLINE:
“I wonder WHEN I’ll workout today?”
“I wonder WHEN I’ll plan my meals today?”
To be brutally honest – I SUCK at planning meals. This is my weakness. I’m not a huge fan of cooking because of the prep time it takes. I’m learning to overcome it with finding MEAL PLANS
and RECIPES that I can actually DO. I don’t want to have to rely on my wife to make most everything. I want to be able to quickly make things that are healthy and PLAN enough in advance that I’m able to have healthy options on-hand when I need them.
I’ve just ordered the “ The Eat-Clean Diet for Men ”and I’m looking forward to what it might have to offer. Gonna share my journey in this and hope it is helpful. Realizing that it’s out DAILY HABITS that keep us growing is making all the difference. I also realize something about myself, that I will tend to get “gung-ho” about discipline in my life and change
TOO MUCH ALL AT ONCE . I know I’m focusing on two areas right now. One is CLEAN-EATING and the other is in FINANCES . I have other habits in line, so I now can focus in on these two areas with greater intensity.