Planning to Fail vs. Planning to Win

      " When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people. " -Chinese proverb
  
      " Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work " - Peter F Drucker.
     
       As I was resting between reps the other day in the gym, a thought came to my mind about what I was going to write about for my next blog post. I had been giving a lot of thought about what was going to be the next subject I was going to write about. What I came up with is thus: Most people who go to the gym, regardless of what kind of training day it is going to be for them, go with a plan. They plan out what routines they are going to do, they plan what cardio activity they are going to do, and they even plan what muscle group they are going to work out and train.. My rhetorical question is: why? It's so that they have some form of guidance and outline for their time in the gym. It's so that they can see achievements and progress from their efforts. It is structured. Sound about right?  Rarely, do people just go to the gym, being unstructured, and come out with a sense of completion or accomplishment. Going to the gym with a haphazard mind set is ineffective and quite honestly a waste of time. Those that go to the gym just to go to the gym, are usually the ones who are sitting there holding the barbell or dumbbells down in the rack or on the bench press. I'm rather certain that the dumbbells or barbells don't require your help keeping it in place, it's holding itself there just fine. Gravity keeps it from floating away, I promise.

        This is also true when it comes to our diet. When we place ourselves on a strict diet, we plan our meals. We plan how many times we are going to eat each day, and we plan on what we are going to eat. We count carbs, fats, calories ( hint: this is a subconscious act of planning ). Very rarely do we just look into the refrigerator and say " Oh, that looks good, I'll have that! " and grab whatever is readily available. When that occurs, we have a good chance at grabbing something that could throw our diets off, even if it is just a simple meal. We even plan how much water we are going to drink, or what sports energy drink we are going to buy for post work out purposes.
         
         So, having dived into planning and it's purpose when it comes to the gym/diet/exercise, would this be the same mind set for becoming unhealthy and obese? Meaning, do we plan to become unhealthy and obese/overweight? Intentionally or unintentionally. Some people may have viable reasons to discredit the previous question, but lets break it down and think about it for a few moments. Some viable rationales would be: Medical conditions prevent said individual from doing strenuous exercises. ( i.e. limited mobility, severe medical conditions, etc, etc ). Said individual has family history of obesity and therefore are doomed to being overweight. ( I really hate this excuse. How many times have we seen people or know people that may come from a family which every member is obese, except for that one sibling who is as skinny as a rail?)  How about these arguments: " I don't have time to get to the gym. I work full time, a parent of 3 kids, I have to take care of the house, running kids from here to there, meetings, functions, etc, etc". Are they reasonable? Yes. Excusable? In my opinion, No, with the exception of course to those with the greatest of severity with regards to medical conditions. Meaning, if someone is a paraplegic or a quadriplegic, I am not expecting them to be able to run on a treadmill, nor do I expect a wheelchair bound person to be able to bench press. Lets use common sence here. I'm not completely heartless.

          What I am getting at here is, if we make plans to succeed in the gym, with our diet, and exercise; is the same then said that we make plans to get unhealthy and obese? Coming from being obese most of my life, I can never recall ever saying to myself " I think I am going to spend the next 6 weeks consuming thousands and thousands of calories and carbohydrates, and not do one bit of exercise" or " I am going to gain weight on purpose ".  We don't make plans to become unhealthy and obese or even just a tad over weight. It just happens. I never once sat down and wrote out goals to get as heavy as I did. Quite the opposite really, but back then I lacked the motivation and desire to get my ass into the gym. But why do we then allow ourselves to get so out of shape? Who knows, it just happens. Perhaps social influence? Lack of support from immediate family, lack of energy, lack of desire, lack of caring, lack of time?  These are all basic fundamental building blocks and reasons as to why we turn unhealthy. The only two instances that I can think of where people intentionally ( the planning ) gain weight are sumo wrestlers and actors/actresses for a role in an upcoming film.

          So, I return to the headline of this post. If we plan to win ( going to the gym, maintaining our diet and exercise ) then do we plan to fail ( unhealthy life style, unhealthy diet )? We could then put the old adage to test. If we fail to plan, we plan to fail. Would that be true? I truly believe so.

           It is well known that getting into shape and maintaining a strict diet is a lot of work, and getting out of shape is just easy and really doesn't require much to accomplish. Getting out shape really doesn't require much planning on our behalf. It actually comes rather naturally. To use another timeless adage of " Your body is a temple... " here, why would we be willing to destroy what is supposed to be the most beautiful thing to ourselves?  Would you intentionally allow the inside of your house go to rot and waste, or do you actually spend time cleaning, mopping, vacuuming, dusting it to make it look good? Sounds like planning to me.
   
            What ever the case may be folks, and no matter how far you want to boil it down to the most minuscule of excuses ( save of course extreme medical ) as to why we can't exercise and or diet, the fact is, I truly do believe we must all plan to win.  I'm not saying that we all must be gym rats and be able to curl 75 lb dumbells. I don't know of too many people who are willing to be either 35 lbs over weight to a hundred plus pounds overweight and not think about how unhappy they are. Obesity causes a lot of medical issues. High blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack. Poor blood circulation. Your heart having to work harder. Soreness is extremities. Danger and soreness on weight bearing joints.  Lack if self esteem ( for some, not all ). I know, I had many of these things. I hurt every day. I was sore, and I was unhappy.
  
             So the next time you make a plan; for whatever it is, think to yourself if you have made a plan to better your health and your life. If not for yourself, do it ( if needed ) for your family and loved ones.  I am certain that many of you may know of someone who had health issues related to obesity and passed away because of those conditions. How did it make you feel when that happened? Did you then or do you now still feel a void because they are gone? Now, would you like to give someone else that feeling of emptiness because you are gone, or would you like to do whatever you possibly can to at your level of control to stick around and pester your family and friends for a long time?  I know I had to make a change, and I did. I feel so much better for doing so. I made plans to win, and I also planned to stop failing. I subconsciously made plans to fail for year and years, and now I like to make plans to win.

            I know each and everyone of you can do it, and you each possess the mental capability to get your mind on it and do it, if it is needed.

We need to get paid!

     I know its been a few days since I have made a post, actually, I'm about a week behind, and for that I am sorry.
           Now, onto the topic at hand that I have been pondering over the past several days. The word of the week is Consistency. It is a word that serves as a staple in all of our lives. It allows you to get a pay check ( you constantly go to work ); it allows you to get places ( constantly going to the gas station to put gas in your vehicle ), and it allows people to either depend on or not rely on you. If you are constantly reliable, people will know that they can depend on you to do what you say you are going to do. If you are constantly letting people down, well guess what? They will not come to you and rely on you to get done what they need.
     The same goes with everything else in life. Whether it be you have a new commitment to yourself to lose weight, to become a better spouse, a better friend, or to stop a vice such as smoking. We all must be constantly striving to be consistent in our efforts. It's not a once a week trial. It's not a once a month trial. It is a day by day trial and effort.
    I know to some of my readers/followers, I may be sounding redundant, but that is alright. Again folks, this is what I believe, and it's not gospel or pure truth. Besides, isn't that the point of a blog? To write down your ideas and hope that others have a desire to read them for whatever reason? ( insert playful laugh here )
     Now, how does this all apply towards what I normally talk about? In order to lose weight, or to maintain weight, or to even shed just a few unwanted pounds, we must be consistent with our efforts to achieve what we are seeking. We must be consistent AND constant about going to the gym. We must be consistent AND constant about watching and maintaining our diet, and we must be willing to be constant about exercise in order to achieve our goals. It's that simple folks. I know, I know... it sounds easier than it really is. We all get frustrated when we continuously put forth the efforts, but fail to see results. I liken that to our jobs. How many times in the work force have you put your best effort forward to get recognized as a contender for that upcoming promotion at work, just to see it slip by and be given to someone else who is more often times than not, undeserving of that said promotion. Do we just up and quit our job because we didn't get it when we felt we deserved it? No, we go back to work the next day putting our nose to the grind stone. Why? Because we need to get paid. Well, the same goes for our fitness goals. Think of it as each goal you reach like a promotion at work. If we get it, we feel great about ourselves and it makes us want to work harder. But if we don't get it, we just can't give up. We have to get paid! The check we receive from the gym is obtaining the goals we have set forth for ourselves.  Is it starting to click now?
         I know, I know... " But Shane, you had Gastric Bypass surgery.... you lost a lot of your weight by cheating, and not doing it the hard way ". True, that statement can be made, but what you may or may not realize dear reader is that I had to first lose from 350-360 lbs down to 298 lbs just to be ready for the surgery. Then, yes, I did have my surgery., and yes I did lose an enormous amount of weight. But, I've also had to work over peaks in my weight loss, and I've also had to struggle to maintain where I am at now in my weight just to prevent it from bouncing back up to where I once was, and I have set goals to even lose a few more pounds, and tighten and tone some of the residual excess skin due to the dramatic decrease in weight in such a short period of time. But, I will still get paid ladies and gentlemen... because I am constant and consistent about getting my ass in the gym.
          So goes for each of you my friends. I know that you can get paid, and be paid well. For those of you who have come to me for advice, or suggestions, or with just general questions, I hear it in your voices that you are ready to get paid. You deserve it and I know that each of you individually have a check ready to be cashed out in full. So.... GO GET PAID.
           I hold each and everyone of you in high regard as a dear friend, and I wish all of you nothing but great success. Remember, when times are hard, and you don't think you have anyone to lean towards for support or guidance, or just a general outreach to bitch and gripe to; you are sadly mistaken. I will listen, and I will offer advice, and I will be supportive. Because I want to see each of you obtain your goals and pay yourselves in huge dividends!
           Be good to each other folks, and most importantly.... be good to yourselves.