A Line In The Sand

When starting out on the journey to lose weight and create health, one of the first things we ought to do is take a "before" picture.  As in, "this was me before I started losing weight."  Yet a lot of folks don't want to do it.  Why is that?

Okay, I'll be the first to admit: it's not fun standing in front of a camera when you're thick.  It just isn't.  I can't remember how many times I plastered on a smile and said Cheese! for the camera when I was overweight.  And that was at family functions and other events where the photo was pretty much an obligation.  I would do all I could to make myself look small.  "If I crane my neck and hold this angle, maybe the camera won't pick up my multi-chin" or "I'll just hide behind so-and-so, so nobody can see the gut."  Easy to do when you're 6'3".  You shorties out there have my sympathy.

But actually posing for a picture, the purpose of which is to accurately expose one's present physical condition?  Yikes!

It is critical that you do this.

I can't emphasize this enough.  The photo marks the pivot point in your life, the moment when everything changed.  You're saying, if only to yourself, "I am committing to this process, I am going to make this life change, I am going on this journey, and THIS is where I started."  It marks the day you drew a line in the sand.

Then, if you're feeling brave, post it up on your home page, and make that commitment public.  Scary?  Heck yeah!  But you will be amazed at the outpouring of support, sometimes from complete strangers, as you venture forth.

Someday you'll look at that picture and remember "Yup, that was me.  That's where I came from.  That's where I started.  And I am never going back there again."

"Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana, philosopher

If you've been longing to lose weight and get healthy, but don't know where to start, I can help.  I am a FREE Certified Health Coach with Take Shape For Life, and my mission is to help people create health in their lives.  Find out more here, or email me directly at DavidJamesPhillips@Gmail.com.

Reflections of Grit

Grit (noun): the tendency to work strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress. (Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit).

Most of us think we have grit.  Certainly we can recognize its value when it comes to the pursuit of personal accomplishments and, well, anything else worth having.

Career.  Relationships.  Health.

But once in a while it's good to look outside of ourselves to see what Grit looks like from someone else's perspective.

Enter Peter Kraft Sr. (age 50) and Peter Kraft Jr. (age 20), from Gainesville, FL.  This father & son team just finished the Tour Divide, but not before it nearly finished them.

The Tour Divide is a grassroots mountain bike race tour that begins in Banff, Canada, and follows the continental divide to the Mexican border.  2700+ miles, and over 200,000 feet in elevation (i.e. climbing).  Anyone who finishes this non-race has some considerable measure of grit.

This year's event began on June 14th.  The guy who finished first, Mike Hall, did it in less than 15 days.

Grit.

Forest Baker and Eric Foster are going for the so-called triple crown of endurance mountain biking: having already completed the Arizona Trail Race in April, they've finished the Tour Divide, and are now headed to the starting line of the Colorado Trail Race, which starts on July 21st.

Double serving of Grit.

Peter Kraft Sr. & Jr?  They rolled up to the Mexican border last night around 9 p.m., 31 days after they left Banff.  Not exactly a course record.

Grit?

Consider that these two have been preparing for this event for three years.  Anyone who makes it to the starting line deserves a medal, and these two lined up in Banff with the rest of the pack.  Then they rode for 2000+ miles to New Mexico, where disaster struck.  First, Kraft Sr. crashed.  Kraft Jr. accompanies Sr. in the ambulance for the hour-plus ride to the hospital, where Sr. is stitched back up.  Then, they hitch a ride back to the course, get back on the bikes, and they KEEP GOING.  Then, Kraft Jr. gets violently ill.  Throwing-up-all-night ill.  In the middle of nowhere.  They find a park ranger, who assesses the damage and tells them they're in trouble.  Another ambulance ride to another hospital.

At this point, I'm almost hoping they throw in the towel.  "It's been a heck of a ride boys.  You've earned your battle scars.  Now go on home and lick your wounds."

Do they quit?  Nope.

Jr. recovers.

     The go back to the course.

          They get back on the bikes.

              And they finish the race.

Grit?

Off the charts.  They ought to make a movie about these two.

Well done Krafts.  Whenever I think about bailing on, well, anything, I'm gonna remember the name Kraft, and think again.

-David

My Dinghy's On Fire!

When Cortez reached the new world, he burned his ships to ensure he and his crew could not go back the way they came.  Onward!

I burned a little ship of my own the other day.  Okay, maybe not a "ship" per se - more like a dinghy.

We just returned home from family vacation in Carlsbad, our annual week at the beach.  It was bliss.  However, vacations can pose a challenge when it comes to making productive eating decisions.  Different sights, different people, different kitchen.  All of these "differents" can throw the routine off, if you know what I mean.  Let's just say not all my decisions were productive ones in light of my health goals.  Nothing major, but enough to make me start to question my ability to maintain for the long term.

When we returned home, I was reminded of where I was a couple years ago.  As I unpacked, I found my old swimming trunks tucked away in a drawer.  My "big daddy" trunks.

For years, I've had two pairs of swimming trunks: my "fit daddy" goal trunks, and my "big daddy" trunks.  In the past, I'd take both pairs on vacation, hoping against hope that I could get the fit daddy trunks up past my rump.  I would try, then abandon the effort, break out the big daddy's, sigh as I slipped them on, then pretend I wasn't embarrassed to go outside without a shirt.

Yup, there they are.  Don't melt your retinas.

Last year was the first year I was actually able to get the "fit daddy" trunks on.  This year, I didn't even pack the "big daddy" trunks.  When we got home, there they were.

See, I've kept them around, just in case.  Just in case it all goes to pot.  Just in case I throw it all away and blow up again.  Just in case I get selfish and lazy again, and decide that instant gratification is more important than fitness and longevity.

I cut them in half and threw them in the trash.  Just like that.  Because there will not be a "just in case."  There will not be a next time.  I burned my dinghy.  Because--

I.  Am.  Not.  Going.  Back.

Arguably, shredding a pair of shorts may be a small milestone to some (I've seen my formidable wife Stacy dispose of yard-bags filled with old "big girl" clothes).  But it was a big deal to me.

Onward!

Do you have a ship you wish you could burn?  Any "big boy" clothes you wish you could give away?  I can help!  I am a Certified Health Coach with Take Shape For Life, and I can help you achieve your health goals.  Hey, life is too short to pretend to not be embarrassed at the beach.  Join me, and let's move forward together.

DavidJamesPhillips@Gmail.com

If We Don't Change Anything, Nothing Changes

People say change is hard.  But the hardest part of change is not the change itself, but recognizing that it’s necessary.  Somehow, we need to realize that we’re oblivious or in denial about certain aspects of our lives, and acknowledge that we alone are responsible to actually do something about it.

Outside Magazine recently published an article titled "YOU'RE DELUSIONAL ABOUT YOUR HEALTH."  Subtle, but it hits close to home. 

I was at a conference during my "thick" years, and one of the attendees and I sported remarkably similar hairstyles.  Naturally I thought I rocked it and that he didn't, in particular because I viewed him as "thick" and myself as, well, less thick.  Fine, I viewed myself as svelte, and gloated to myself about how lean & mean I looked.  A month later I received the quarterly newsletter from the conference sponsor, and there on the cover was a photo of me and the other similarly coiffed dude.  And we looked the same.  Same hair, same gut, same chins (yes, more than one each).  The.  Same.  If anything, I was the thick one.  Talk about deluded.

We train ourselves to see our bodies in a certain way.  We think, “Oh, I’m not that thick.”  Really?  Then we catch ourselves off guard and get a glimpse of the truth.  Ever been tagged in a candid photo on Facebook and not recognize yourself?  Ever catch a reflection in a window or a mirror as you round a corner at the mall?  Who is that person?

We become desensitized to our own condition.  Like the “cat lady” who lives alone because she can no longer smell the dozen-plus felines that keep her company, we become desensitized to our physical condition.  We simply get used to it. 

Admitting we have a problem is the first step to recovery, right?

So let’s say you have a vague notion of the truth about yourself, but you don’t really know what to do.  How does one create health?  For a long time after my delusion shattered, I had no clue.  All I knew was that something had to change.  I just didn’t know what, or how, or… anything.  So for a long time, I did nothing.

And you know what I found?  If you don’t change anything, nothing changes.  Hoping and wishing and pining and dreaming for change doesn’t get the job done.  It’s not until we actually do something about the problem that things stand a chance of turning around. 

So if you want optimal health in your life but you don't know how to create it, chances are you're probably not doing anything intentional about it.  Hey, there’s good news: you’ve already nailed the hard part, realizing the need to change. 

If all you lack is the tools, then I’m your guy.  I have been where you are now, and I’m telling you it’s possible.  Once we have the tools to make the change, the change itself is not that difficult.  I’m a Health Coach with Take Shape For Life, and I can help.  Contact me, and let’s make the change.

“It's never too late to be what you might have been.”  –George Elliot.

DavidJamesPhillips@Gmail.com

When was the last time you had it?

When was the last time you had it?  High school?  College?  Remember what it was like?  How good it felt?

I am speaking of course about a fit & healthy body.

For me it was high school.  I was chubby growing up.  Lots of hoodies and baggy jeans.  Then in high school I started to stretch out.  I dabbled with wrestling, cross country, and cycling.  Then in 11th grade I got involved with a recreational gymnastics class at a local club.  Nothing competitive, but I was there 3-4 time per week, working out and having fun.  Best shape of my life.

It's been downhill ever since.

Not because anything in particular happened that prevented me from pursuing health and fitness.  I left home, went to college, met my wife, got married.  Real life in progress.  But as far as fitness & health goes, I never set any serious goals for myself.  And like the man said, if you aim at nothing, you'll hit every time.  [citation needed - I have no idea who said it]

We get to a certain age and we start to let go of those ideas we once had for ourselves.  We accept the loss.  Why is that?  Old habits that won't die?  Too much history going away from an ideal?  We've taught ourselves that because we've spent so many years going one direction, it's too hard to turn around now; we've learned that because it hasn't happened yet, it's probably not gonna happen any time soon, if ever.

We just happen to be wrong.

What would you think if I suggested that the best shape of your life was in fact ahead of you, not behind you?  Seem daunting?  Impossible?  Fantasy?  Not on your life!  I'm here to tell you it is possible to turn the ship around.

Okay, full disclosure.  I'm not there yet, not by a long shot.  I still have goals I'm pursuing with regard to musculature and endurance capacity.  What I can tell you is that I weigh less now than I did when I graduated from high school.  The difference is, now I know my goal, and I know what I need to do to make it happen.

Wanna join me?

If you've accepted the loss of an idea you once had of yourself, a "you" you once believed was possible, contact me.  I'm a Health Coach with Take Shape For Life, and I'm telling you it is possible to turn it around.  In fact, it's not that complicated.  Heck, I did it.  You can too.

DavidJamesPhillips@Gmail.com

No How vs. Know How

So maybe you read my blog from yesterday, and a question pops up in your mind.  You think "OK, if attaining optimal health is such a deep matter of personal integrity, what took you so long to do something about it?"

Fair question.  Why now?

Short answer: I didn't know how.  I lacked the tools.  I had no clue how to get it done. 

Look, I've always wanted to be fit and healthy; I've always wanted to have the energy I needed to keep up with my family and pursue my interests; I've always felt inner conviction about letting myself go.  But until recently, I never knew how to address the issue without having to master complex nutritional theorems and/or execute rigorous hours-long workouts in the gym. 

Some people are built for that kind of life.  I am not one of them.  

Thinking about the Wants and the Whys was too painful because I didn't have the How.  Without tools I could use, my longing for health never got past the wish stage.  Instead, I ignored my convictions and stuffed my feelings (into billowy shirts & pleated pants), hoping that someday maybe something would change and my body would somehow just kinda, I dunno, get more healthy on its own. Maybe?

Hope is not a strategy, people.  No one is coming to bail you out of you. 

It wasn't until I got a Health Coach and started to adopt the Habits of Health that I've been able to make optimal health a reality in my life.  Now I want to help you.

If you long for optimal health in your life but have been frustrated in your attempts to achieve it; if you've learned to ignore your convictions because it just seems overwhelming; if you've stuffed your Wants & Whys because you can't figure out the How, contact me.   I am a FREE Health Coach with Take Shape For Life, and I can help you get it done. 

DavidJamesPhillips@Gmail.com

What's Your Why?

If you could choose to have optimal health in your life, would you take it?  I bet I can guess your answer to that question.

Why?

Ah, that's the more important question.  And everyone's answer is different.

But until you can nail down the answer to this second little question, the pursuit of the first question will remain elusive.

For years, I answered the "why?" question with statements that began with "I should -".  "I should lose weight so my clothes will fit."  "I should get in shape so I'll look better."  "I should exercise because my doctor said so."  And yet I never ended up doing any of those things in a way that I could maintain long term.

One day I was mulling this over with someone, talking it in circles, when she stopped me mid-sentence and said "Stop should-ing all over yourself."  I blanked as I made sure I heard her correctly.  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  As long as my "Why" began with "I should", I was relying on what others think - external drivers - to drive my success.  I had to make it internal.  I had to work on my Why.

Not "why does my doc want me to lose weight" or "why does society think I should look like so-and-so".  But "why does this matter to me?"

What's my why?  The answers are numerous, but the biggest one is family.  I want to be fully available for my wife and son, to lead and nurture them, to fully engage.  And I can't do that when I'm living like a sedentary desk jockey, too tired by day's end to give them what they need and deserve (and I've spent plenty of years living that life).  Another answer has to do with nature, and my desire to explore and enjoy it in ways that are meaningful to me.  In my case, that usually involves a bicycle.  To each his own.  Another answer involves personal stewardship.  For me, it's a matter of deep personal integrity that I care for this body of mine.  It's the only one I'm getting.

What's your Why?

If this is something that has piqued your interest, I'd love to help you work through it.  Contact me, and let's figure out why you want optimal health.

DavidJamesPhillips@Gmail.com