You Are NOT The Biggest Loser (and That’s OK)

Guilty pleasure confession… I’m a big fan of reality TV.

Love the Amazing Race, Real World vs. Road Rules, The Mole.

One of my absolute favorites is The Biggest Loser, where people compete to lose weight.

The Biggest Loser shows what’s possible if you give a goal your complete focus.

It shows what you can accomplish if you can get past their preconceived notions of how their lives are “supposed” to be.

It proves that if you can change your mindset and put in the necessary work, you can achieve just about anything.

But a “Biggest Loser” approach isn’t the only way

I have a friend who’s lost over 130 lbs. over the past year or so.

He hasn’t done it in the Biggest Loser manner – no celebrity trainers, no pre-stocked kitchen, no place to escape the distractions of daily life. He’s made it happen day by day and week by week while he has a day job.

Exercising every day. Watching what he eats at just about every meal.

Over past year, a couple pounds have come off every week. No huge drops, but little, consistent losses have added up to a huge result.

There are a couple things we can learn from these different approaches:

Big achievements can happen a small step at a time.

While most people look for the big jumps in progress, and are most motivated by the big jumps, it’s important to know that most goals are achieved step by step. My friend’s path to a huge weight loss is much more common than the few people who have made it happen on the Biggest Loser.

Change requires a consistent approach.

Both of these paths took time and consistency. Move toward your goals every single day, and at some point you’ll get there.

Change is about action.

Everyone who wants to lose weight knows what to do to make it happen – exercise and healthy eating.

The difference between the people losing the weight and everyone else (myself included…) is that those who lost the weight took action.

For the most part you know what you should be doing. Do it!

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What small things can you do today (or every day) to move you closer to your goals? What’s holding you back from doing them? Let me know in the comments!

Tagged as: Action, Change, Mindset, Reality TV, The Biggest Loser

http://www.empoweredpeace.org Chaplain Donna

This is a really well written post with great advice.
http://www.pursuitofchange.com/ Mike Tiojanco

Thanks for the read Donna!
http://twitter.com/kthorwall kthorwall

well said. (thanks)

i find that when approaching a goal, the beginning is the hardest. it’s where you see the least results (usually). you take one teensie step at a time, and you know in your head it will add up eventually, but you’re stuck in the here, the now, the teensie bit. once you make it routine (which requires discipline) you can (sooner than you realize) look back a week, a month, 4 months, and see the change, the improvement, the growth. that is when motivation hits its stride. those are the days when “not feeling like it” doesn’t have such an impact.

but you have to get there first.
steps that help me:
1. set a goal
2. don’t tell yourself it’s ok if you miss “because it’s new”
3. if you miss, have a consequence – hold yourself accountable, or find someone else who can
4. reward yourself when you see success (even small bits) – but not in a detrimental way to what you’re overall goal is.
5. when you get through 6 weeks, take a look back (a month is good, but can sometimes be too early – you feel overconfident and mess yourself up).

you’ll see successful change shining through.