Last week I was moving files over from an old computer when I came across this photo. My computer skills have always been a little haphazard, so I’m not really sure when this was taken. It was probably sometime in 2004, when my internet-influenced fat loss journey began.
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| January, 2004 |
Whatever you may think about the plethora of programs being sold on the internet,
<a href=”http://f6b3cydqd908uwfp4bfgo6t9qd.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=BLOG” target=”_top”>Turbulence Training</a> urged me to do something very effective- take a before photo. No bikini in this one! I post the picture here because I want anyone reading this to know what the woman in that picture knew.
She thought she was already beautiful.
Recently my sister told me about a conversation she had years ago with our Mom. My sister was feeling distressed over her own looks and Mom told her to be beautiful now. She said that my sister should choose her clothes, make up, and hairstyle based on what would make her feel the most beautiful in that moment, no matter what she happened to weigh.
I can say that she has always followed that advice, and as a result I have always found my sister lovely to look at, and from the reaction of people around her she brings beauty with her wherever she goes. Of course now that I think of it, the way she treats people, with kindness and genuine interest, certainly gives the impression she makes a special glow.
Be Beautiful Now
The process of physical transformation is full of paradoxes like this one: In order to change profoundly, and get all the way to your goal, you must accept yourself completely in this moment.
As I come closer and closer to the weight, size, and measurements I have chosen for my goal, have to become even more accepting of myself in order to avoid going completely nuts! My rational mind thinks that with all of the skills and experience I’ve earned over the past seven years the the push to the finish line should get easier and easier.
I know how to eat, how to lift, how to move, and even how to think. Indeed those processes do get easier.
Go ahead and learn the skills that lead to physical transformation. They do work and they will serve you well, but they may not take you all the way to your goal if your greatest challenges are emotional.
If I have to name the greatest emotional obstacle to losing weight for good- it is fear: the fear that when you arrive at your chosen destination the imagined reward won’t be enough.
That perfect measurements won’t equal universal acceptance. I think the essential purpose of this blog has been to help me figure out what in the world I’ve really been after all these years, and I thought I found it in the concept of perfect physical well being, something I thought I could go out and create for myself.
As I get nearer to that place physically, it becomes abundantly clear that it’s never been about how I look. It’s about how I feel, and about what I do. I encourage you to ask yourself this question,
“What do I want to do that is being limited by the the state of my appearance, or by my thoughts about my appearance?”
The great challenge is then to go start doing those very things. I accepted that challenge in July of 2012 when I signed a two year lease on the building that would become Gordon Studio. My students accept that challenge whenever they step into one of my Turbulence Training classes.
Yesterday afternoon, we did the finisher that my colleague and friend Mike Whitfield taught to the trainers at the 2013 Turbulence Training Summit.
My students had never seen some of the exercises before, and I was so proud of their trust and willingness when they did exercises like the SCREACH, and the Mountain Climber/Burpee combination.
Back to the Woman in the Picture
Even in those days, if I did my hair, put on my makeup (which I happen to enjoy doing), and wore my favorite color, I felt beautiful. That was, and is, my secret.
So as I step onto the fast track toward releasing Sugar Freedom, I have two vital jobs. I have to feel the fear of success and let it pass thorough me without blocking it with food, and I must go ahead and choose to be beautiful now.
Go ahead and try it. You don’t have to tell anyone what you’re up to, and it may end up being your secret too.
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| Today. |
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