For the longest time, I treated my body like a garbage can.
Excesses of booze, late nights, fried foods and other illicit substances were common place. The only thing I cared about was having a great time, getting wasted and getting some. It was my way of dealing with life.
If I got fired, rejected or a so-called friend shafted me, please bartender, just leave the bottle right there. I’ll take good care of it.
It was an emotional crutch. Recognize it?
It can take the form of food, drugs, alcohol or certain behaviors. Some of you may’ve leaned of this crutch now and again. Rather than dealing with your adverse thoughts and feelings, you drown them out with the pleasure of your choice.
It might work (for a while) but eventually it will catch up with you sooner or later in the form of a health or behavior issue.
This has been my experience (in the past) and I’m lucky I’ve had people around me to pull my head out of my ass. Now I’m much older, a wiser, and a little more mature.
Notice, I said a little. 😊
The problem, in hindsight was a lack of something that’s included in the 7 deadly sins. Can you guess which one?
Yes, pride. Or a lack of it.
Pride means having a feeling of being good and worthy. Having a sense of pride is either good or bad. On the good side it means having a feeling of self-respect and being satisfied with your achievement.
Or on the flip side having too much pride may make a person unreasonable and a pain in the butt. It may cause a person to have high opinion of one’s self, causing them to put themselves above others.
But for the sake of this article, I’ll focus on the good sense of pride and how showing a little more of it can help you with your health and fitness goals.
Here’s how
Most if not almost all people start exercising to look and feel better. Has I’ve mentioned before, there is nothing wrong with that. The problem is when it’s your only reason for exercising.
Because when you’re slaving away and doing all the right things and your progress has stalled, which it will, the temptation is to let the little voice in your head take over.
“You don’t have to get up early to workout, it’s not working anyway.”
“I’ve gone without sugar for weeks and the scale hasn’t budged. Where are my Butterfingers’?”
“I’m hungry and tired all the time and I still have my belly.”
“I’m tired. I think I’ll miss my workout today.”
And if that little voice in your head wins and one day snow balls into another day and then you haven’t done anything remotely healthy in a while, you’ll be right back where you started.
The classic yo-yo dieter and exerciser. There all around and the fitness industry makes a fortune off them.
However, I’m proposing if you showed a little
- Pride in your appearance
- Pride in your health
- Sense of achievement when scale goes down or you look better in the mirror
That you’ll be less likely to quit and more likely to stay on the healthy path.
Wrapping up
So, don’t only show pride in the name of love, show some pride in the name of your health and fitness. It might be the missing link you’re looking for.
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