My personal victory! :)

Orlee

Hey all

Just thought I'd tell you a little story ...

My new years resolution was to get fit and fabulous in 2010 so off I toddled to the local gym. I'd spent the previous 6 months asking a million questions, finding out about lifting this and eating that and I felt I was ready to put it all into practice! I threw myself into my training sessions and I've been eating right but I just can't figure out why I'm not losing any weight or why my fitness has barely increased! It's mind boggling.............. well not really

Recently, I read something written by one of our resident fitness machines Transform, that made me stop and ask myself a few questions, a few silly questions perhaps but they needed asking.

Am I really working out? Am I really eating right? Am I really doing this?

And the answers? A resounding NO across the board!

Yeah I'd been going to the gym, "sweating" it out for a whole 3 hours a week. I'd been eating better (turkey steaks and stir fry veg a go go instead of the mounds of pasta, rice and bread I'd usually eat.) But when I stopped and asked the questions I couldn't answer yes to any of them with conviction cause I was just going through the paces.

So I thought about it and I thought about it some more.

My gym routine hadn't changed in 4 months and I hadn't been challenging myself to get better in any way. I'd been making excuses about my workout and avoiding asking to be shown how to lift free weights properly. Instead I was pumping away with weener weights on the machines, convincing myself I was working out effectively. Just because I was an hour in the gym certainly didn't mean I had just done an hours workout. My diet was definitely better in many respects but I was "conveniently forgetting" about the weekend takeaways, the coffee break bikkies, the sunny day ice creams, the morning latte routine etc etc

The penny has finally dropped that I was fooling myself into believing that I was doing something positive about my health and weight. I wasn't actually doing anything other than wasting my time and money on posing in the gym for 3 hours a week and praising myself for eating nothing but veggies...

Anyway, the point of my disjointed rambling story is that in the last week or so I have gotten a greater return on my few workouts than I had gotten in the last 4 months. Now I certainly haven't lost a mountain of weight in that space of time but I feel better, I'm more confident about my training and I'm excited to get going. Again, as Transform has said before, I had been asking all the right questions, but I'm not too sure if I was really all that interested in the answers. I knew what I needed to do but I was hoping to find a million short cut ways to get the same results without the effort. I'm no poster model for fitness, but by putting in 100% (well maybe 85%) into a 30 minute workout 3 or 4 times a week and by at least being honest with myself about what I eat, I'm already feeling much better about myself.

My point is, for those of you who may be in a similar boat, stop wasting your own time and money by doing it half heartedly. A bit of real effort will go a very long way and you'll get a heck of a lot more done in half the time. I know it's not the greatest of revelations but it's a bit of a breakthrough for me!

Now I just have to nag g'em enough to get the Ladies Only Introduction to Lifting Session 3 going and I'm set!

radia

Thanks for posting that Orlee! It struck a real chord because I've been kicking myself into action too recently, based on what Transform wrote. Not sure if it's exactly what you read because this bit was on his blog but I came across it because it was linked from somewhere on boards.

From here:

Are you just asking?

If you have read this far into the article ask yourself this simple question – are you just asking about how to shed fat fast or do you REALLY want to know? I get asked daily what is the quickest way to burn fat and get in shape but many people are just asking. They don’t really want to know. The people that are just asking can also end up asking too many questions and it’s like they are never satisfied with the answers becuase they prefer to keep asking questions rather than getting down to the business of putting in good hard training sessions and being way more honest with their diet. For example, do not ask me about whether to use low fat milk in your tea if you insist on eating bread twice a day, biscuits daily and just can’t give up the latte a day habit. Come on work on whats going to make a true difference! Less talk and more action please.

The clients I work with that do get and continue to get great results are the ones who REALLY want to know and not just know for knowledge sake but because they want to apply the info asap. They never feel there is no more to learn, they enjoy the challenge of a new program and can’t see their life without regular exercise and a clean diet. They love the feeling exercise gives them and they value the time it takes to exercise because they do not want to end up like some people who moan about their excess fat and being tired all the time but never do anything about it.

I never get tired of answering questions on training, nutrition and health but sometimes I have to ask myself does this person REALLY want to know or are they just asking. If you really want to know you NEVER make excuses and you get the job done. If you are just asking then that’s ok and maybe one day you will get the push you need to stop asking and take action.

Getting in shape in a short time frame requires consistent application of all the five points listed. It may seem strict but the best results come from a dedicated effort with a major goal in mind.

Hope you don't mind my pasting it here Transform? (I'll delete it if you want.) But it was the kick up the backside I needed and I'm sure will help others too.

Khannie

Great post.

Naos

"Less talk and more action please." = my favourite thing about Transforms attitude.

Congrats to you too Orlee!

The Davestator

Great post Op

One thing - dont beat yourself up for the what you've been doing in the gym up to now. You had to go through that to arrive at this moment of clarity.

best of luck

Dixie Chick

I love this thread, a great read. Transforms words are so true, we have ALL done that asking thing without wanting to know the answers!!

Well done Orlee on the attitude shift

Mr.Applepie

It's the Michael O'Leary (ala gift grub) program:

Eat Less!

Do more!

Shut Up!

It's working for me

Michael 09

Great post!! Let us know how your new attitude works out for you.

Its testament to the phrase, go hard or go home.

El_Drago

Thanks for posting that Orlee,hopefully it'll enlighten others as well.In turn, the new attitude WILL give you the results you desire.

Orlee

Ah thanks guys ... figure we could all use a bit of positivity!

SteelyDanJalapeno

Can someone link me to Transforms blog by any chance? looks good,

congrats op,

Naos

It's located here!

Transform

Orlee wrote: »

Hey all

Just thought I'd tell you a little story ...

My new years resolution was to get fit and fabulous in 2010 so off I toddled to the local gym. I'd spent the previous 6 months asking a million questions, finding out about lifting this and eating that and I felt I was ready to put it all into practice! I threw myself into my training sessions and I've been eating right but I just can't figure out why I'm not losing any weight or why my fitness has barely increased! It's mind boggling.............. well not really

Recently, I read something written by one of our resident fitness machines Transform, that made me stop and ask myself a few questions, a few silly questions perhaps but they needed asking.

Am I really working out? Am I really eating right? Am I really doing this?

And the answers? A resounding NO across the board!

Yeah I'd been going to the gym, "sweating" it out for a whole 3 hours a week. I'd been eating better (turkey steaks and stir fry veg a go go instead of the mounds of pasta, rice and bread I'd usually eat.) But when I stopped and asked the questions I couldn't answer yes to any of them with conviction cause I was just going through the paces.

So I thought about it and I thought about it some more.

My gym routine hadn't changed in 4 months and I hadn't been challenging myself to get better in any way. I'd been making excuses about my workout and avoiding asking to be shown how to lift free weights properly. Instead I was pumping away with weener weights on the machines, convincing myself I was working out effectively. Just because I was an hour in the gym certainly didn't mean I had just done an hours workout. My diet was definitely better in many respects but I was "conveniently forgetting" about the weekend takeaways, the coffee break bikkies, the sunny day ice creams, the morning latte routine etc etc

The penny has finally dropped that I was fooling myself into believing that I was doing something positive about my health and weight. I wasn't actually doing anything other than wasting my time and money on posing in the gym for 3 hours a week and praising myself for eating nothing but veggies...

Anyway, the point of my disjointed rambling story is that in the last week or so I have gotten a greater return on my few workouts than I had gotten in the last 4 months. Now I certainly haven't lost a mountain of weight in that space of time but I feel better, I'm more confident about my training and I'm excited to get going. Again, as Transform has said before, I had been asking all the right questions, but I'm not too sure if I was really all that interested in the answers. I knew what I needed to do but I was hoping to find a million short cut ways to get the same results without the effort. I'm no poster model for fitness, but by putting in 100% (well maybe 85%) into a 30 minute workout 3 or 4 times a week and by at least being honest with myself about what I eat, I'm already feeling much better about myself.

My point is, for those of you who may be in a similar boat, stop wasting your own time and money by doing it half heartedly. A bit of real effort will go a very long way and you'll get a heck of a lot more done in half the time. I know it's not the greatest of revelations but it's a bit of a breakthrough for me!

Now I just have to nag g'em enough to get the Ladies Only Introduction to Lifting Session 3 going and I'm set!

Just reading this now as i was away for the past few days.

Glad to know my words have inspired you into action and its nice to see how getting people to take action in the right direction is better than debating silly points and sitting on the dam fence.

I think i originaly wrote the last piece in two articles -

the shed fat fast article - http://thetransformationcatalyst.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/shed-fat-fast-the-guaranteed-summer-plan/

and maximum muscle - http://thetransformationcatalyst.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/maximum-muscle-%e2%80%93-the-new-rules-for-gaining-lean-rock-hard-muscle/

Stop asking and just go take some consistent action - the learning is in the doing NOT in the talking about doing.