Let me begin by prefacing this post by stating that I will
present the analogy of losing weight and fighting a battle within my writing on
this blog quite often. My success in weight loss can greatly be accredited to
having what I refer to as a "soldier mentality". I firmly
believe that much can be learned from drawing the parallels between the
admirable values and practices that the men and women who serve their country
possess and applying those values and practices to someone on a weight loss
journey. Losing weight is very much a battle and without investing the time in
advance to prepare and create a "battle plan", you are setting
yourself up for failure. Can you imagine a general sending his troops into a
battle without a plan or any training for combat? It would be catastrophic and
the same is true when it comes to weight loss. Perhaps you have heard the
famous words spoken by Benjamin Franklin, "by failing to prepare, you are
preparing to fail". There is no way around it, I cannot stress the
importance of preparation for your weight loss journey enough. Additionally, believe it or not, planning is actually
biblical. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where
there is no vision, the people perish…” A
clear vision and purpose of where you are going is something you need to take
the time to prepare. In the business
world, this concept is utilized all the time in the form of a business plan. When it comes to losing weight, a battle plan
is a necessary step to take in order to successfully accomplish your weight loss goals.
There are several steps to creating an effective battle
plan for your weight loss journey. I will briefly outline and explain each step
involved, so that you can create your own.
The battle plan is a tool to be used to keep you focused throughout your journey, but it is not etched in stone. There may be times throughout your journey that
you may need to return to the drawing board and make revisions to your battle
plan. It’s important to not become so stuck on your plan that you are unwilling
to make necessary adjustments to it when needed. For example, on my journey,
when my son was diagnosed with cancer, I had to make changes to my plan because
the option to workout everyday was no longer possible. There may be
circumstances that arise on your journey that will cause you to have the need
to make adjustments to your plan and that is OK! Make the necessary adjustments
and continue on your journey and you will reach your finish line.
The first step in planning is knowing what your anchor is
for your journey. What is the reason you have started this journey? What is the
underlying reason rooted deep within you that will keep you anchored and
focused on reaching the finish line of your journey? When things get tough and you begin to lose
hope while on this journey, what will be the reason you can return to that will
motivate you not to give up and quit?
Just as a ship could not stay in place without an anchor, an individual without
an anchor on their weight loss journey will not stay focused enough to reach
their goal. Your anchor may be that you need to lose weight to get off of the medications
you are now required to take, it may be that you want to be able to an example
to your family, it may be you want to restore the confidence you had in your
youth, or it may be that you want the energy to play with your children and be a
better parent. Take a few minutes to
consider what your anchor is for your journey and always have that anchor in
the back of your mind, let it be the driving force that motivates you during
the hard times on your journey.
The second step when planning your journey is to write what
your ultimate goal is or what I refer to as the “finish line goal”. This is
your long term goal, what you ultimately want to accomplish at the end of your journey. When writing your finish line goal, you want to be specific, you can’t
just say your goal is to lose weight or to get healthier. You want to make it
specific, measurable, and include a basic plan of action of how you will attain that goal. So an example of an appropriate long term goal would be, “To lose
100 pounds in the next 2 years by eating a clean diet and incorporating an hour
of exercise daily”. Your finish line
goal will always be the end result you are fighting to accomplish and the main
focus of your journey.
The third step to your battle plan is to create several
shorter term goals on the pathway to your finish line goal. Just as in a
marathon race, there are stations along the route for racers to stop to hydrate
and refuel, your short term goals are stops along the way for you to reach and
celebrate and then continue on your race route to your finish line. Short term
goals are especially important for those who have a lot of weight to lose, they
give you something attainable to focus on accomplishing instead of getting completely
overwhelmed with how far away your finish line appears in the distance. Similar to your finish line goal, your short
term goals should be specific and include a plan of action to reach them. For
example, a short term goal could be, “to lose 20 pounds in 3 months by eating a
clean diet of 1400 calories a day and completing 3 hours weekly of strength
training and 3 hours of cardio weekly”. It’s important to celebrate when you
reach each of your short term goals, it doesn’t have to be anything extravagant
but reward yourself for your hard efforts in reaching your goals! It could be
something as simple as buying a new outfit or getting a pedicure but make it a
point to reward yourself for reaching each one of your goals along the way. The
short term goals on your journey serve as checkpoints along the way to your
finish line goal. They keep you focused and on task towards moving forward and eventually
reaching your finish line. If you are a
major planner, you could further develop and breakdown each short term goal
into smaller goals, even weekly or daily goals. Essentially, it really is what
works for you individually and what is going to keep you motivated and focused
on your journey, if you need more planning to reach your goals, then do
it!
The final step of the battle plan is one of faith. As I have shared in my own
personal journey, I had lost weight many times and gained it back but it wasn’t
until I brought my faith into the equation of weight loss that I was finally
successful in losing all of my extra weight and keeping it off. You may want to pray prior to creating your battle
plan. And once you have created your battle plan, you should commit your plan to the Lord. “Commit
whatever you do to the Lord, and he establish your plans”. Proverbs 16:3. If you want God to bless your journey, give it
to him! When you give it to God, he will get involved, he will give you the
strength you need, he will give you the power to change, he will transform you, and he will give you beauty for ashes. If you have tried before and failed or if you have been stuck and unable to move forward on your current journey, the faith component may be the key to unlocking your success!
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