Hudg's House

Two months ago, I briefly spoke about mental outlook & attitude with an emphasis on maintaining a bright positive one. I wanted to come back however & touch on another aspect of it that I believe is of sizable importance. This may differ from person to person but for me is was almost, if not everything. The offshoot of mental outlook that I refer to is our desire & drive.

So with that said & I'm not a psychologist, what allows one person to ambivalently sit on tha' couch dippin greasy potato chips & another to day in/out put forth the effort of consistent hard training? Developed habits often result from repetitive behavior. Anything can quickly become habitual if we just repeat it many times untill it becomes second-nature, but what got us kick-started in the first place? For me it was basically disgust and from that seed sprung forth a flower called desire. I was sick & tired of being sick & tired. I was a mess & it affected my outlook, my appearance and my life.

So does everyone have to reach that low level of despair and despondence?
Probably not. Some people are naturally competitive and driven by heart. Others by means of some source just seem to possess alot of will/fortitude. Both of those qualities have grown for me in time but frankly I was pissed & disgusted although my unfitness didn't occur overnight & of course deep down I knew that. My displeasure drove myself within to a quiet place and there I found a small smouldering ember. The more I fed this ember with the energy of my displeasure, the hotter it became and the inward fire immediately bloomed into another flower called resolve.
It led me to this decision:
The way I'm livin' is BS.
My Physique is BS and I'm not gonna put up with this anymore. No Mas.

I knew from past experience this was something I could not "play around with". I don't do well doing something half-hearted. For me it's pretty much all or nothing to really be successful. Although I knew I would have to start out very slow considering the shape I was in, there would be no waiver in my decision or my focus, lest I return to tha' Land of Disgust. There would be no looking back, it would require a complete commitment. That's all there was to it. Although it sounds unusual & overdramatized, I had to have an almost warrior-like attitude to really do what I wanted. A life transformation for me would require that and really it's what "drove me".
I don't care if it took 2-3 yrs to develop by miles of Baby-steps (which really we all do) but I was going to go back where I came from and recover the body that I had lost.

Nothing and/or nobody was going to get in my way - if I allowed that, it would surely happen because there always seems to be "something." KWIM? That may have been related to my general outlook before the decision but irreguardless, my focus was pure & strong period.

So I Baby-stepped my way to 42 lbs. of lost fat as we speak and
Have a Good Day.

No, I'm in mid-journey now and still have a ways to go but the habits have kicked in and really this is "just what I do now." As we become slightly fitter, something amazing happens. We begin to feed off of that progress and because our body is a little more tuned, things aren't quite so hard. Then comes this crazy cool part - we intentionally make them harder to acheive through more resistance via weight/set/reps, the body adapts and we repeat the process. We then mix things up, keep the body guessing somewhat while fueling it exquisitely and our body "slowly" (relative term) starts changing. We say Wow!, these pants are loose and I had to tighten my belt up a notch. (Positive Reinforcement) The Program Extroidinaire continues till one day we meet Joe Blow we haven't seen in months. Joe says - "man have you lost some weight? I almost didn't recognize ya." "Yeah a little", being our usual humble selves and then as we walk away we're walkin on sunshine. Someone outside of ourselves noticed !
Man, do we feel good and gratified !

External Support such as that example can really provide a nice, healthy ego and program reinforcement boost. You may can accomplish most anything without it (debatable) but my question is Why in the hell would you want to? Why not take a little intraveneous spiritual uplift when it's offered unconditionally? I can't tell you what a blessing the Support Groups I have belonged to have meant to me. Everyone likes to feel loved,wanted and a part of something. I feel this has intensified for me as I have aged. And you know what? You can even help some others that have been and or going down the same road as yourself. Two minds are greater than one and there's alot of great informative input to be had and apply in your life.
We all learn something from each other. We have to because we're all different and yet attempting similar goals in this case.
Support Groups, can't endorse them enough. Great motivational tool & fountain. I find I really perform best when I'm held "accountable." That's one reason I write this blog. Every month I update my progress & it comes down to this: Did I do or did I not do?
Really I feel no pressure but it does motivate me. I know if I've followed my greatly designed program & done as I should, the results will take care of themselves.
It has never let me down, not once.
The options are in place in these groups to do as you wish.
You can "lurk",post topics,pics - whatever you want (within reason of course) and make it a mecca of information & fun.
Search around untill you find one that seems right - you'll know.
Here's a personal invitation to "My"(doesn't belong to me but I claim it anyhow) fitness forum, the: "Take No Prisoners" Website & Forum.
If you don't like it don't stay, but I think you will. I have it linked over on the left as "Your Fitness Journey."

Drop on by, We'll leave the light on for ya.

207 lbs. - 42

I lost 5 more lbs. in June
6 mos. under my belt -
42 less lbs. directly above it (relatively speaking) altogether.

I will see "this" through.
I will reach my goal of around 10% bodyfat. C-ya Aug. 1'st.