Finding your inner strength to succeed

While I was running my 10K this morning, I thought about my clients and some of the struggles they are having to stay with the program I have put them on. Some do not get the kind of support they need from their family. With the majority of my clients women, I'm sad to report that most do not get the kind of support they should from their husbands/boyfriends. I've seen more than a few cases where the spouse becomes a negative instead of a positive influence on the one who is trying to lose weight. It's almost like they don't them to succeed. You would expect the opposite to be the case and while there are some who are supportive, I see many who are not. Part of the reason for this is that it makes the person who is not trying to lose weight take a hard look at themselves. The better and harder the person is working at improving themselves, the worse it makes the other person look.

In addition to this, when someone begins to lose weight there is usually lots of people who take notice right away and are very supportive. However, as time goes on the compliments become less and less. The reason? It's the same as the one I talked about previously. People will not constantly heap praise on someone who is losing weight especially if the majority of these people are not doing anything to improve themselves. The saying of "misery loves company" certainly applies here.

I think that's one of the reasons why I enjoy my running so much. I'm surrounded by lots of positive people who all have their own goals and they are working hard at trying to achieve them. Having a good support network can really help BUT if you don't have one it doesn't mean you can't succeed.

Most of my runs are on my own and I feel that I am self-driven. While I certainly enjoy running with other people, I don't have to run with them to achieve my goals. In fact, during a race or any run for that matter, I still have to be the one doing the running. There have been runs where I've had to dig a little deeper to finish. It is during these times that I call upon my inner strength to help me. I use plenty of mental imagery and have probably run more races in my mind than on the roads. I try to think about anything except running. In fact, if I actually looked at the amount of mileage I do on a regular basis, I may start agreeing with the trainers at the gym who call me crazy.

With regards to weight loss, I encourage my clients to use visual cues wherever they can. I've told them to hang up some clothes which they want to fit into so they can see it on a daily basis or even keeping a picture of what they want to look like in their wallet.
When things are tough try and recall these cues and ask yourself if you getting closer or farther away from these goals.
Whatever you need to use though, try and remember that you have the capability of doing anything that you put your mind to.