What Snow & Weight Loss Have In Common

‘It’s fun for 5 minutes and then it’s just bulls**t’

 

My wife is never one to mince her words…

 

But she kinda has a point.

 

It’s all fun and games when the snow first falls.

 

  • You take a few moments to appreciate the beautiful place you live
  • You take a few pictures.
  • Throw a few snowballs
  • Perhaps build a snowman (although it seems snow cats and snow bunny’s were on trend this year)
  • You pop on your ‘comfies’ and sit in the warm comfort of home relishing in the fact it’s something you never get to do.

 

But when the snow continues to fall and the depths continue to increase, it kind of loses it’s magic a little, doesn’t it?

 

When you’ve got places to be, people to see and things to do – the novelty wears out.

 

Your weekly food shop delivery get’s cancelled and the local supermarket you never use stocks little more than custard and wilted veg.

 

You grow frustrated that your house is now foodless and go on a ‘ready steady cook’ mission trying to work out what on earth you can cook with some black pudding, a leek and some strawberries.

 

The once cute childhood giggles outside your window turn to irritation when they’ve just rolled and deposited a 6ft high ball of snow directly behind your car…

 

And then ofcourse comes the sad realization that you’re well and truly stranded and all the great intentions you had for your day have been placed on the ‘laterbase’  leaving you behind for the week ahead.

 

The same goes for most people when they start their weight loss journey.

 

We all have our inner magpie.

 

We love ‘shiney, new and different’

 

The plan begins, we are motivated, excited and ‘in the zone’

 

But a few weeks later the motivation has turned to irritation, the excitement has turned to boredom and the zone…well it was nice while it lasted!

 

 

But what if I told you that getting despondent with your plan – was actually part of the process?

 

And what if I told you that it is those who carefully manage this part of it were the ones who eventually got everything they wanted?

 

Most journeys go a bit like this:

 

‘This is the best idea ever!!!’

‘This will be fun’

‘Hmmmm this is harder than I thought’

‘Damn, this is going to be a lot of hard work’

‘Groan, this sucks and I have no idea what I am doing’

 

And then comes the ‘Pool of despair’ – which is where most people give up.

 

It’s when the realization comes that the task is a lot bigger you thought and it’s going to take a little longer than you predicted.

 

Some people call it the ‘is it worth it? stage’

 

However, like I do with my gang we call an intervention and reframe this key moment – renaming it the ‘pool of choice’.

 

It’s a key part in the game where we have to keep what is useful, discard what is not, re-align goals and expectations, work on making the plan more joyful and ensure it is workable for the long run with as little pain, struggle and sacrifice as possible.

 

And post successful intervention, slowly but surely they come out the other side:

 

‘Ok, got it but it still sucks’

‘I’m doing it, I’m doing it, but really feeling like giving up still’

‘Hmmm’

‘Hey’

‘Wow’

‘I DID IT’

 

Weight loss…sure it’s always fun for the first 5 minutes….but it doesn’t have to be bulls**t

Scott ‘Sorry For My Wife’s Bad Language’ Marsh
Personal Trainer Marlow

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.