A friend recently asked me how I stay motivated, and that seemingly simple question churned deep inside my little brain.
For me - it's about the scene in the old John Cusack movie 'Better Off Dead' where the French Chick ignites Lane Meyer's motivation with the line, "I think all you need is a small taste of success, and you will find it suits you."
This certainly was true for me.
I'd worked SO hard for SO long with SO little success, I had quite literally given up. I was beaten, and I'd resigned myself to a fate of not outliving my Father. The problem was that I'd never had one single ounce of real success, I'd never felt in control. Sure, I'd lost some weight on Atkins, but that was like holding water in your bare hands ... and while that taught me a few lessons, it also showed me how little I could do to affect my destiny. It beat me into submission.
I really can't overstate the depth of my frustration.
A year ago, at my Grandfather's memorial service, I hit my low point - after a year of working downtown, walking a ton, eating salads at lunch everyday, and even doing two juice cleanses, I was right back up at my max weight.
Nothing had worked, and fighting it so hard for so long felt like a colossal waste of time & anguish.
I'd learned a ton in that year though, and after reading a couple of books that REALLY opened my eyes (Salt, Sugar, Fat and Fat Chance), and watching videos like Jamie Oliver's TED talk on sugar & "Hungry For Change", I felt like I'd been duped in a scheme, but I was left powerless to fight the processed food addiction I'd been saddled with.
Then I read about an odd type of 'eating cleanse' that could potentially reset the body's nutritional cravings back to what nature had intended. "Just give it 30 days", they said. "You can do anything for just 30 days".
Well, ok - that sure sounded reasonable. How hard could a month be? I'd gutted through TWELVE months of Atkins, and I figured if I could do THAT, I could do a month of this. After all, the siren's song of breaking free from my processed food & sugar addiction was something I'd wanted too long to NOT try for!
So I tried it. ...and just like John Cusack's little French Chick had suggested, a taste of success was all I needed...
I was off like a rocket, and my continued success was the best motivation EVER. Very quickly I found myself in a brave new landscape, and suddenly I had nothing but good possibilities. When everything is going well, motivation is all around you, and the words you've heard for YEARS from all your family & friends suddenly make sense.
It was amazing, and absolutely transformative for me.
...right up to the point where it felt like everything came to a screeching halt. When my A-Fib hit, my weight loss immediately stalled. Flat line. No progress. I was panicked, and fearing heartbreak, as I'd been doing mental math on how quickly the rest would melt, and I was picturing my wonderful new life just in time for it all to evaporate...
"Easy there, Cowboy", I had to think to myself, and once again, I found that the best way to stoke my motivation was to find an easy little bit of success to build on. I changed up my food again, I tweaked my exercise, I looked at new ways of tracking stuff, and I came to a stunningly obvious conclusion:
"You are not a unique snowflake". (Many Fight Club quotes have come to mind during my weight loss fight!) Of course I had to change what I was doing, I was no longer the same metabolically deranged bag of crap I was 100lbs ago! Tweaking my system showed me new successes, and kept the motivation going. I got past the A-Fib five weeks ago, and I've kept things rolling.
However, with all that being said, right now I'm in a place where I'm re-assessing my success. I've been frustrated that post A-Fib I've not been able to get back on-track with my old average of 10lbs lost each month. DAMN, but at that level it was EASY to stay motivated! For the month of June it looks like I'll clock just 6lbs lost, and my motivation was waning, until I really thought about it & decided, DAMN!
6lbs lost in one month ROCKS!
A year ago I would have KILLED for that sort of success!
So, in the end, I suppose sometimes I have to re-assess what success 'means'.
Two years ago success was walking well after knee surgery.
A year ago, success was getting up & trying, just one more time.
Today, success & motivation come from realizing how far I've come, and realizing that as I continue, the successes will be TOUGHER, because I've climbed higher, and I DESERVE things being tougher because I've earned the right to work at that level.
So yes, a small taste of success has shown me, indeed, I have a taste for it...
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