Ready or Not

If you wait until you are ready, you will be waiting forever —  They

Says who? “They?” — I am sure this quote has an actual author, I am sure he or she was fascinating and knowledgeable, however, the origins of commonly used motivational phrases usually revolves around they; “you know, ‘they’ say…”, or “I heard ‘they’ say”, and so on and so on.  I think we would all like to meet “they”, so we can uncover what “they” truly meant, and in what context they were referring to. Either way, is jumping before you are ready truly the only option for any life situation? Would we all be standing still if readiness was the only way we could make a decision? You may not be ready for that promotion, but leaping into that may be incredible.  You may not be ready to start a family, but oops, here it comes and you ride the wave into beautiful experiences and life-changing moments — BUT, here is why it is okay to wait until you are ready before making a nutritional, fitness, or lifestyle decision and how to change your self-doubts into readiness and success.  

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For just under a decade I have been listening to clients and friends alike tell me all the reasons why they can’t start their sessions/programs until after a cruise, a vacation to nowhere, a full moon,  the baby shower coming up in 37 weeks (read that again), a brunch for their neighbor’s 3rd cousin once removed’s adopted german shepherd, its fall and the pumpkin spiced latte just returned (yaaass), or my personal favorite, the “holiday season” (isn’t it always the holiday season though?).  I have spent SO many hours on phone calls trying to explain that there will ALWAYS be “a good reason” (er.., excuse) not to start, but the right mindset will have you making health-conscious choices during National Free Munchkin Day at Dunkin Donuts (I am not sure if this is a thing, but it should be).  

If you’re not excited about making an actual change in a daily habit or routine, or you are just not mentally prepared to make a commitment, odds are you may not stick to it.  Committing to certain foods, certain workouts, certain lifestyle revamps, can be overwhelming if you have not 100% convinced yourself of these changes, 100% believe that you will enjoy it, and 500% love the idea of squats and burpees (like me!).  In other words, it is really easy to talk yourself out of all of it, to give up and say, “What the hell was I thinking?”, “This is too much”, “my thighs are sore and drinking two meals a day really makes me miss chewing”. People usually find their excitement after they experience their “fed-up moment”, their rock-bottom, “I just can’t feel like this anymore” epiphany, and that’s okay.  You’ll be surprised at how ready you are and how excited you will feel after you throw your hands up and scream into your steering wheel, ‘THAT’S IT”.  

  Here is the good news, though — when it comes to nutrition, start small.  Cutting out every single food that may be unhealthy, switching to protein shakes, lowering your caloric intake, drinking a gallon of water, all on day one — well, you may not be ready for that, but you may be ready for just cutting out sugar.  Once you see the benefit of cutting out just ONE thing, you may be ready to start making other decisions. In other words, gradual progress is still progress. Similarly, sprinting in between obstacles at a boot camp class sounds dreadful today, but watch me cheer for you as you pick up the pace in your walk on week 1 and jump up and down screaming you for when you are lightly jogging on week 3. Cheering brings me to my next point — find your tribe. Find your accountability cheerleaders, it can be one person or 100 people, but surround yourself with ONLY people who are 100% in your corner, who encourage you and elevate you during your baby steps and your smallest accomplishments. You’ll be amazed how empowered you feel and how READY you are to take it to the next level. These are the same people who will lightly kick you in the butt when they see you slowing down or feeling defeated.  These people are unconditional, invaluable, and keep you ready for anything.  

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Want to ensure your continued readiness to take it to the next level?  Listen closely, STAY OFF THE SCALE (a full-length blog post will detail why, complete with transformation photos of shocking 5lb differences).  Stay. Off. The. Scale. Whether you are trying to lose weight, gain weight, or just feel energized and comfortable in your own skin, the scale is the most deceiving and discouraging piece of devil’s work ever created.  Focus on INCHES (again, another blog post), to keep you motivated, and WRITE IT DOWN. You can log the inches in a journal and remeasure every week. Seeing it on paper can really keep your eyes accountable for what your mind may see in a mirror — the numbers will never lie.  

So, you may not start off ready, but you can always start small and then keep yourself ready for every single milestone you strive to achieve.  When you are tired, rest, do not quit, you can always pick up where you left off, but you do not have to look back to the beginning — you aren’t going that way anyway.  Get fed up, take control, tell your excuses to take a hike, and find the people you need to lean on. Set your goals and “full send” (I think that means like, full speed ahead? My kids say it, and I feel like it belongs here)!

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Here is the fun part.  Once you’ve hit your goals, maintaining your new body becomes the light at the end of the tunnel.  Read about my Summer bathing in Frosè, to see my personal maintenance struggles and triumphs.

xx Kerry

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