SEE ALSO..
I was talking to someone the other day about their weight-loss journey. This was someone who I had worked with briefly a few years back, and they decided to go it alone and work towards their goals themselves (with some ideas and tools I had given her).
She did a great job and lost a lot of weight. To get those results she walked every day and cut out junk food. It was a great effort and I remember congratulating her at the time.
Fast forward a few years and we were back chatting in the gym. She described how after she lost the weight it slowly crept back on again. She lost the weight again, only to put it back on a second time. She said that she felt like she was in a "never ending failure loop".
Many people expect that when they reach their goal weight - they will automatically feel different - like new and improved person.
For some this is absolutely the case. Losing weight can do wonders for your energy and of course your health. But for others hitting that goal weight doesn't equate to improvements in other areas of their life, and old habits and self sabotage sets in the derail their progress.
If I were to magically click my fingers and you were at your goal weight - would you still be the same person on the inside? I have no doubt you would be excited and happy in that moment, but would you have overcome the reasons you put the weight on in the first place? Learnt how to overcome barriers that prevent you from maintaining that goal? Or overcome unhealthy behaviors, bad habits and negative thinking?
Perhaps an analogy would give us a better understanding.
Imagine a car sitting in your driveway. It's a bit beaten up, it's slow, the check engine light is on, the inside is a bit tattered and worn, and there is this strange clunking noise going on in one of the back tyres when you drive it.
Now imagine that we could put a brand new shell on the car - a perfect paint job, a beautiful shine, no dents and now the car is glistening in the sun. Although it looks exactly how you pictured it would, it still has the same check engine light, slow engine, tattered interior and the clunking noise coming from the back tyres is still there.
This is where this quote from Jim Rohn comes into it.
Reaching your goals isn't just about the end outcome, it's about what you learn about yourself, and what you overcome along the way that is of most importance.
Your bad habits, your lack of self-discipline, lack of support, your emotions that lead to you eating comfort food, won’t always magically disappear once you get down to your goal weight. They will still be there influencing your lifestyle choices and the weight will sneak back on over time if you don’t address those internal issues.
The real success in your weight loss journey is not your goal weight - it's the way you grow, improve, and overcome all the parts of you that lead to behaviors which caused you to put the weight on.