Guest post by Kat Loterzo
I used to think that getting in shape was
all about math. I'd fight and I'd fight and I'd fight this internal battle to
do everything right. And somedays I'd win and somedays I'd fail miserably, but
I knew it all just came down to this -
If only I could find that perfect equation of eating just less than what my body needed to use each day, I'd 'force' my body into burning fat for energy. And if I through exercise into the mix I knew I'd be unstoppable.
Turns out, the stuff that sounds good in theory? The following the rules kinda stuff?
It's not so simple.
But I don't have to tell you that, do I? I mean, it's not as though you don't know the basics of what you should be doing to get the body you want. Right? Really, we all know it's not rocket science.
Eat clean, fresh, healthy stuff. Drink enough water. Get that ass moving every day.
Simple!
And it would be simple. In fact I'd guarantee your success and wonder why in God's name you hadn't got there sooner.
If you were a robot, that is!
In the real world? Getting into great shape is something that most people out there will dream about, think about almost obsessively, plan to do, take a few steps to do, sometimes even work really really hard to do all the right things, and yet for whatever reason they will never ever get to where they want to go.
And this sucks BIG time, because it really can get to the point where most women spend literally their entire lives longing to live in a different body but their own.
Hating what they see in the mirror.
Wishing there could be an easier way; a magical way to just flick that internal switch so that transforming themselves really could be as simple as calories in versus calories out.
You wanna know something?
And this is the secret that most personal trainers, nutritionists, and shape-up gurus extraordinaire will never ever tell. Never ever ever!
Getting the body you long for, a body that you truly love and adore from the inside out, does not have to be a battle. It does not have to be something you fight and fight and fight to 'win' at. Something that you lose control of within days of managing to wriggle back into those skinny jeans. Assuming you manage even that.
The secret (if you really wanna know it)
You can create any reality you choose in your life. You can manifest anything that you choose to believe possible. And yeah, you're still going to have to put a little grunt in, no matter what your goal. But the guarantee of success? It's yours as soon as you once and for all make your mind up that it's going to be yours.
Let me tell you how this applies to getting in shape.
These days, I stay in shape pretty
effortlessly. That's despite having a 2-year old daughter, a full time internet
business, a client based business, a ton of projects I'm dabbling in, and the
occasional desire to, well, you know, live a little.
You have full permission to hate me, except maybe just hold off on deciding for a minute.
I spent over a decade battling bulimia, despite working as a personal trainer at the time. I used to walk around about 10kg heavier than I am now, again, despite being a health professional. After I got married I did the standard thing of piling on an extra few kilos a year. And during pregnancy I gained 17kg. 9 of which just would not budge off my sorry ass no matter what I did.
I've done the hard yards. I've fought the battles. I've gone to every bloody seminar, learned everything you can possibly learn about nutrition and hormones and fat loss and I've applied most of it very strictly in my own life as well as the lives of my clients over the years.
And you know what?
Okay, I'm not going to say it didn't work. Some of the time. Cause it did. Unshockingly, eating better and exercising more does help you to get in shape!
But here's the catch -
You're human. You have shit you have to deal with. You get busy. You get emotional. You sabotage yourself sometimes. You have good intentions but they don't always pay off. You get bloody well distracted by a brand new flavour of chocolate for heavens sakes!
And on top of all of that, you are so damn hard about not being more disciplined, more successful.
So, coming back to the secret.
It's not about calorie counting. It's not about finding the perfect diet for you. Or about exercising more.
It's about belief.
It's about making a choice - right this very moment - to believe that you have what it takes to get yourself into amazing shape. Believing that you have what it takes, and that you're good enough. That you deserve it.
And that whatever price you may have to pay to get there is worth it.
Because that's what it comes down to, isn't it? Believe you can achieve or create a new reality, and you'll start to think about it. Start to think about it all the time, and you're confidence will build. You'll find yourself envisaging how it's going to be when you get there. You'll realise that any changes or sacrifices you may have previously battled to make are becoming easier to deal with. Often, you're not even noticing them. These changes and new behaviours will create a rolling ball effect. You'll notice that you're forming new habits without the constant urge to self-sabotage. Your belief will grow. Confidence will build. Your focus will be so strongly turned toward what you're achieving that you will become unstoppable.
In a way that calories in versus calories out will never be able to compete with.
Kickstart the belief
So, here's what you have to do to kickstart that belief. The nutshell version, 'cause I know you can already tell I like to talk a lot :)
-
Set your goal. Decide, right now, exactly what to do with having a smoking hot body you would like to focus on. One thing, please, for now!
- Be specific. 'Losing weight' is not a goal. Losing 2kg, or 5kg, or 5cm around your waist is a goal.
- Know why. I mean really know why. Ask yourself 'why do I want this?'. 'Why is it important to me?'. Write down the answer. Ask it again. This time ask 'why is it really really important to me?'. If you don't know your underlying motivation for wanting to achieve something; why the heck would you care enough to achieve it?
- At this point - possibly, reset that goal. Be more daring. Go deeper. Be honest about what you truly want. Don't hold back. If the goal is huge, as in it's definitely going to take a while, decide what the first mini-sub-goal is. Work on that for now. One thing at a time yes? That's how you build the confidence muscle.
- Next - make space for your goal. This is about decluttering, clearing things out, letting go of old beliefs. I highly recommend Denise's 10-day video course on how to manifest a big goal. I followed it and was able to achieve a huge big scary goal by day 6. One that I know I would have put off for a good 'nother year or so otherwise. This lady knows her stuff.
- After that - get support. Tell someone. Tell me, or Denise. In fact, tell someone as soon as you set the goal. Tell your buddies. Put it on Facebook if you know you have supportive friends.
- Every day, ask yourself - what's the next step. Choose the easiest step if you like. Just do it. And ask yourself - what would a person who loves their body and stays in shape effortlessly do today. How would they eat, move, think? How would they nurture yourself. Doing this each day is the number one reason I now stay in great shape year-round, despite the fact that I regularly indulge in wine and chocolate. I have that balance where I know when to enjoy myself and when to focus on giving my body what it needs, which also feels great. And i never lose motivation to workout or eat clean because my focus is on nurturing and on how I'd like to feel, rather than on fear or sacrifice.
- What reminders can you put around yourself each day? This is another thing Denise recommends, in her book Lucky Bitch. This book changed my life! Finally I got the idea that anything I wanted could be mine. It just comes down to whether or not it's worth it. So create daily reminders of how you're a new person now. With a smoking hot ass, remember? Mobile phone messages are a favourite of mine - set 'reminders' to pop up and tell you how hot you are. To tell you well done for eating so well. To tell you that you've got it going on! You do you know. Affirmations can also be used like this.
It doesn't have to be hard...
I used to fight and fight and fight to
get the body I wanted. Carefully I would consider what I should eat, I'd plan
my workouts, I'd stick to it for a meal or a day or a week and then bam. Life
would happen. I'd get down on myself. Stressed out. I'd go out socialising and
lose track of the whole weekend. Or I'd just get distracted by a cool new
flavour of Cadbury's chocolate :)
The problem was never willpower, or discipline. It wasn't that I didn't have the math right.
It was that I was focusing on each moment rather than the end goal. That I didn't really believe in myself as a 'hot' person. That my thoughts and therefore my actions were skewed towards failure rather than automated success.
For you, if you want to stop struggling to get the body you want; if you want to feel freaking awesome when you look in the mirror as well as when you don't, and if you definitely still want to be able to smash down some chocolate and wine now and then, then you have to give up the math. The fighting. The list of 'shoulds'.
And you have to just start believing.
And then making shit happen.
Hey - you only get one life, right?
Might as well love what you're walking around in while you're here.
xx
Kat Loterzo
Change Your Body, Change Your Life
www.katloterzo.com
Kat Loterzo is an author, speaker, entrepreneur and the creator of The Dream Life Project, which is for smart women who want to figure out what they want in life - and get it!
Kat also created The Look Great Naked Eating Plan, a guide to how to eat right, effortlessly and stop the struggle to get the body you want. It's chock full of Kat's recommended tips for what and how to eat as well as meal plans (including yummy treats!) and recipes, and it will make getting in shape automatic so that you can focus your energies on the other big goals you want to manifest!
