It amazes me the power the mind has over being fit. Have you ever been at the gym and having a bad day, just sad, depressed and miserable? I have! I can't run as fast, lift as much weight, or finish any of the exercises that I did the day before. Have you ever been completing a set and hit the wall, where you just can't lift the weight one more time? Then said to yourself, "I can!" or "Start strong, finish strong!"? Then all of a sudden you can lift the weight no problem.
Mind over matter? I say, Yes!
Recently I read in a book about a seminar where the facilitator has an audience member come up on to the stage, out stretch their arms, and resist as the facilitator attempts to push them back their body again. Usually the facilitator can't. They she has the audience member repeat, "I am weak, and can't do anything." ten times out loud, really feeling the emotion of those words. Repeat the experiment and every time the arms can easily be pushed back to the body, to the surprise of the audience member. Then "I am strong, and can handle anything" is repeated ten times, again feeling the power. When the facilitator tries again the audience member has more strength than they did even the first time.
Is it really that easy? Did I say easy?
Well I believe it really is the secret, but I also know from personal experience it is not that easy. On my personal journey to fitness, I hit a plateau. For several months I had been "stuck" at a size 8; I was still working out, still conscious of what I was eating, but still a size 8. I monitored what I was thinking though noticed it wasn't positive. After getting some coach for myself and my thinking, in 2 weeks I was taking off my size 8 pants without unbuttoning them. 1/2 a dress size in 2 weeks. It didn't feel like I went to the gym any more often or changed my diet, although I will admit this probably happened subconsciously. But what changed was what I was telling myself.
On your journey to achieve anything, be conscious of what your self talk is and practice keeping it positive. For help in this see the book "Feel Fear and Do It Anyway"
