Hey there. If you have been on a weight loss journey for years, maybe even decades, you know what it feels like to start, stop, and restart. You might even feel like you have restarted countless times. But here is what I want you to think about. You have not just been restarting over and over again. You have been building experience, and that experience matters more than you realize.
The fitness industry tells us that once we reach a certain goal weight or look a certain way, we will finally feel good about ourselves. But that is not the truth. I know this not only as a fitness professional, but also from my personal life. I live with cerebral palsy, which impacts the majority of my body. No matter how much weight I lose or how much muscle I build, my disability will always be part of me. So I had to learn to appreciate and love what I see in the mirror. It is not about “if I can do it, you can do it.” It is about asking yourself, what is the alternative? Why keep tearing yourself down when you know it does not work?
This is where the inside/out approach comes in. Instead of looking for happiness from hitting an external goal, you choose to connect with yourself and appreciate who you are right now. You reinforce that choice daily, because the fitness space as it stands does not make it easy to truly appreciate yourself.
If you feel like you are always restarting, I encourage you to stop thinking of it that way. Look back at what you have learned. What programs or diets have you tried? More importantly, what do you actually enjoy? What has fit into your life, not just temporarily, but in a way that could last? The truth is, you have preferences. If you start with what you like, or at least what you are willing and able to do, consistency becomes much easier.
You hear all the time that the best program is the one you can do consistently. But we rarely take the time to build consistency as a skill. That is what happens when you choose to build your foundation around your preferences. From there, you can experiment with other programs and tools. If they work, great, add them to your foundation. If not, you always have something to come back to.
You do not need to cram your life into someone else’s program. You need to build around what works for you. That is how you move from starting and stopping into something that actually lasts.
If you are ready to take that next step, I invite you to join The YLF Experience. This program is designed to cut through the noise of the fitness industry and help you finally build the foundation you need to succeed for life.