Motivate vs. Hesitate
Now, to be clear here, I had had the DDP Yoga
Max Pack in October 2012. Before getting the program, I was working
out with Morgan at the Dojo a couple of time a week and attending the
occasional Adults Judo/JuJutsu class. Food-wise,
I was averaging 2 pizzas a week and a lot of late night snacking and
cheese, ice cream and dairy throughout the day. There was no mindful
eating here whatsoever, other than “Can I put more cheese on that?” or
“What’s for dessert?”. And guess what? My nearly
255lb body showed it, both in how I looked and how my knees & back
felt.
When I got it, I worked on the Diamond Dozen
(which, for those of you that don’t have the DVDs yet) is the basic
positions that you’re encouraged to nail down. For a little over a
month, all I did was worked in the Diamond Dozen and
the first Workout in the series, Energy, averaging 2 to 3 times a week
along with working out with Morgan at the Dojo. I also had started to
clean up my way I was eating by trying to cut back on breads & wheat
products and eating more vegetables. But, in
my mind, I was still hesitant on stepping up and doing what needed to
be done. The thoughts in my head were a combination of Procrastination
and Doubt.
Things like:
“Well, I’ll get working on this tomorrow”
“Would I realistically see results with this? I’ve tried programs like this before, but they don’t really last.”
“The Holidays are coming up. There are just too
many things I would not get to do with my family and at work. It will be
too hard to resist having all of those extra Christmas Treats.”
Therein lies the reason why a lot of people’s
quest to get thinner fail. People have a well of excuses and convoluted
logic as to why they can’t do something that has been shown to work for
others. Combine this with a lingering fear
of failing or looking bad, and the result is another gimmick that
collects dust in the corner or shelf.
What it boils down to is looking for reasons why you can’t
instead of ways that you can. DDP loves to refer back to a quote from Henry Ford “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t… you’re right!”
So, on November 26, 2012, I decided to find a
way to make this work! Since one of the constant things I heard in the
Diamond Dozen & Energy was to Modify wherever I needed to, I applied
that to entire beginning of the journey. Instead
of tackling everything at once, I made one small change every few days
with a goal on where I wanted to be by Christmas. I also worked the
Program Guide that came with the DDP Yoga DVDs, working with the
Intermediate Schedule of workouts, which made sure
that I was doing something at least 3 times a week for the first month
and ramping up from there. I also did Wake-Up, a good non-engaged short
workout, in the morning to get me thinking about it right away. I also
set a Long-Term Goal of getting down to
185lbs. I also start doing a Vlog on my YouTube Channel (ZenTwister)
and sending out Tweets through my Twitter Account (@ZenTwister… see a
theme here?).
By the time December 26th came, I
had lost 14lbs and was Wheat/Gluten-Free and Diary-Free. My knees,
hips & back were all feeling a lot better than they were, which got
me to start going to more of the Adult Classes with
Morgan training with me instead of just doing the Kids Classes.
Fast-Forward to today: I’m down to 190lbs.
I’m doing DDP Yoga every day, in some form or another. Some days are
just Wake-Up and Red Hot Core (the DDP Yoga Ab Work-Out), while others
see Mixed Tape & Double Black Diamond (which
hits a little bit of everything in varying degrees). I’m still
Gluten/Wheat/Dairy-Free. There have been a few times that I have had
something out of that group, but it has definitely been the exception
and not the rule! I’m also in the Dojo for almost everything
they do (Judo, JuJutsu & Karate). I’m in the better shape than I
have been in
15 years! I’m not at my goal yet, but I can definitely see top of the mountain from here!
Don’t get me wrong, there are days that are
still a struggle. Even though, logically, I know I’m doing the right
things, Procrastination & Doubt still rear their ugly head and I
fall down. The difference is, I get back up stronger
than before! The old Judo Sayings goes “Fall down 7 times, get up 8!”
We learn to fall in Judo & JuJutsu so that we can get back up and
fight on, without hesitation. It’s all a matter of taking it one day at
a time. Another DDP Adage is “Own Your Life”.
Well, in order to do that, you need to Own This Day to
Motivate, not Hesitate!
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