5 Things You Need To Give Up for Fitness Success
By Erick Minor
The accumulation of things, habits, and ideas are part of the American experience. But sometimes less is better; you may need to eliminate something in order to facilitate your goal. In order to achieve a positive change, you must remove obstacles that are holding you back. When you upgrade your mental software, you must first remove the old software. Many of you have the mindset of “any obstacle in my way, I’ll go through it with intense might and perseverance!” This is a good mindset, in certain situations, but not always efficient. Maybe you need to simply give up, go around, or avoid the obstacle.
Here are 5 things you should GIVE UP to become a better you:
1. Late nights – Staying up late in an effort to “get more done” is actually counterproductive; a sleep deprived person is a less productive person. Sleep deprivation decreases mental capacity and is a direct cause of body fat accumulation and blood sugar issues. Get to bed before 10:30pm.
2. The quest to achieve the look of someone else - You can only look as good as YOU can look. If you develop good nutrition habits, improve your metabolic health, and build muscle, you will achieve your best look. You can't change your inherent body structure. If you have big thighs, getting in better shape will only make you a leaner, healthier person who has relatively big thighs. Go hang out with other big-thighed people; start a club.
3. Negative influences - If your friends like to stay up late drinking and partying, and then eat donuts for breakfast, don’t expect to look or feel good. Spend less time with those friends and find people who are heading in the same direction as you. Trying to swim against the current created by unhealthy people can be exhausting and discouraging.
4. Negative Self-Criticism - The world is harsh enough, don’t kick your own ass with negative self-talk. Someone is probably already doing it for you, don’t join their team. Give yourself a pep-talk every morning before anyone else has a chance to influence your mood.
5. Clothes that don’t fit - This suggestion is primarily for the ladies. If your pants are too tight, buy bigger pants and give your old clothes to goodwill. Don’t base your success on your ability to squeeze into a certain “size” of clothing. Don’t let a clothing designer determine the efficacy of your efforts. It is possible, and often the case, to gain muscle (i.e. get bigger) and look better than you did when you were smaller.