Good morning all from the Body for Life/Bodybuilding board!
Many of us up at the BFL/BB board also lurk/post at another forum - www.leanandstrong.com. The administrator of L&S, QuadZilla, is also a 3FC member. Today at L&S he posted the following about "Finding YOUR plan" and encouraged me to cross-post it at 3FC. I did post it at BFL/BB, but thought it would be worthwhile for anyone struggling with fat loss...
Quote:
I've seen countless posts from people who have undertaken fitness plans (BRx, BfL, GL, etc) that didn't work for them. In the cases I'm talking about (certainly not in all cases), it was because the person, by their own admission, let things slide and fell off the wagon.
Many of the plans discussed here are tough - very tough! Especially for newcomers! It's pretty overwhelming and it's a huge commitment to jump feet-first into a concious life change. To abandon everything you've learned and been taught about how to get thin -- to suffer the doubters and subverters in our own lives, often the people closest to us. All of that is tough stuff!
Tentatively, these folks seek validation, adivce, or just an ear to bend. Is this a carb? How many grams should I eat? How can I slim without more cardio? Fruit okay? Bread? Beef? Should I be so sore? Should I be sore at all? Do I need supplements? What is a 10? I slipped up. I'm struggling. My friends don't support me. How should I... What if my... When will I... Can I... Should I... These questions are so important to ask! They're just as important to answer. Firmly. Thoughfully.
Sometimes though, in the cases I'm on about here, the querent just isn't committed enough to their plan. They want it, but not enough. They crave it, but less than they crave other, more tangible things. These folks struggle and strain and try only to fall down over and over. They ask for help, usually get it, and fall down again. In the end, egos in tatters over having no luck at something that's worked for "everybody else" they sulk away and stop stuggling, stop straining, stop asking for help.
Perhaps they simply weren't ready for the plan they tried. Some plans are more forgiving than others. The popular ones here, BFL especially, is a pretty unforgiving plan by most folks' standards. Sure, it's a cake-walk compared to GetLean and other competitive diets. But for the common Joe and Jane, it's a massive commitment. Great effort, great results, great commitment, great risk. Sometimes we're not set up to handle that much greatness all at once.
My message here is to the people who are struggling like **** just to keep their heads above water. The folks who wake up every day and don't know if they can do this. You'll hear from all of us that you can -- and I believe that you can! But maybe not right now. Don't be afraid to be realistic in selecting your fitness and diet plan. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself, but please do not undertake something that you know you can't finish. It's only damaging to you.
When you hear someone talking about their great success on a plan like GetLean, don't leap headlong into it unless you are really prepared to see it through. Unlike many of the diets we've all tried in the past, true fitness plans require more than just a week or two of "try it, you might like it" -- they require a shift in the way we see ourselves, our food, and our bodies.
What you, the newcomer, need to do is make sure you're making promises to yourself that you can and will keep. What I, a longtimer here, need to do is remember the excitement and trepidation that I felt so long ago when I had the exact same questions - and I need to gague my repsonses accordingly.
One of the things that makes L&S so amazing is that those who succeed stick around to help lead others to success. Sometimes we succeed only in aspects of our transformations, sometimes our success is complete. Sometimes our only success is never having surrendered. Our lessons were hard won, sometimes with the help of wiser L&Sers, sometimes from flying solo. We've got very high standards of ourselves and I (since I won't speak for anyone but myself) sometimes forget that not everyone holds those standards. Not everyone wants to. Not everyone has to.
The important thing is to find YOUR plan. Find the program that's going to work right for you. Measure your success by what you achieve, not by where you fall short. And when the time comes for you to answer someone else's plea for the information and perspectives you've learned to take for granted, remember when you were that person yourself.
Actually, I can't read any of these green on yellow quote boxes. It just shows up on my screen as a green box with some faint yellow squiggles in the background. I've never seen anyone else on 3FC mention it, so it must just be me.
Finding YOUR plan...crosspost
