By Judy M.
| W |
hy do we women insist on knowing the reasons why a problem exists before we do something about it? Frankly, it doesn’t matter why we’re overweight or unhealthy, and it’s almost always self-indulgence spending time or energy exploring the cause. As a woman and a psychotherapist, I can tell you that thinking can sometimes be a counterproductive waste of time. Insight and understanding are fine, but they change nothing. Action does.
We should all be grateful that it’s not really necessary to find “the reason” in order to get the job done. Getting the job done consists, quite simply, of doing the job. Knowing that there was some kind of trauma in your early life, or that you now are burdened with seemingly excessive demands day-to-day, and that those things may be the source of your frustration, inactivity and poor health is interesting, but it is not useful. It illuminates the issue, but it does not change it. Rather than having to unlock your psychological mysteries before you can lose weight, it is far more likely that by exercising and eating properly, you will begin to see improvement in your psychological state. To fix your emotions, fix your body and your health first.
In truth, the strength and ability to reclaim your body and get physically fit come from actually doing it. The power comes from the process. It’s like anything else you undertake: the more you practice, the more proficient you become. Once you initiate action, it tends to just keep on going.
You don’t get ready to get fit, and then get fit. The readiness, the ability to stick with it, comes as you actually do it. So many women are always getting ready to do something, but they never actually do it. And their life passes before them, sadly, without ever having done it. You can’t wait until you are emotionally ‘ready’ – because that day never, ever comes.
If, as you read this, you are thinking, “Yes, but…,” I suggest you take a good, hard look at that. Because it is that thinking, precisely that thinking, which allows you to lock yourself into the box of victim-hood. The key to the box is understanding choice. Understanding that everything you want is within your grasp. All you need do is choose to have it.
Far too many women stay in bad situations out of the fear of making the choice and then taking action to manifest it. I do not know why we are like that. But I do know that the only cure for fear, the only thing that gives us the freedom we desperately want…is action.
Do you feel 100% terrific? Most women do not. And 9 times out of 10 it has to do with body-image: a general unhappiness or sense of discontent about their body and health. It is widely accepted that the mind affects the body, but I have found it to be equally true that the body affects the mind. Countless women that I’ve helped stop thinking so much and start doing, start taking action, start exercising and eating right – report to me far greater results in the improvement of their self-esteem and happiness than those who merely try to ‘talk-through’ their personal pains, worries and ‘issues.’ Psychotherapy has its place, but I firmly believe, based on my own experience and all the evidence I have seen, that exercise and healthy nutrition solve many, many more problems, more quickly and more certainly and more permanently.
A different future is possible for you. As one who has lived in both worlds, let me tell you that life is both different and better when you are thin and healthy. A fit body can do more to give you a fit mind than possibly anything else. You WILL be happier. You will look better and feel better. You will be able to love yourself more, and you will be more lovable to others. Make up your mind to begin today creating a new life. A thin, fit and happy life. It will prove to be the most valuable and rewarding decision you may ever make.
