Why the "Why" is important.

Situation: You are having a horrible day and you wander into the office break room to get a bottle of water. Upon the table you see two boxes of the most beautiful donuts ever, their chocolatey glaze glistening in the floursecent lighting. They are sooooo delicious looking, but you set a goal of not eating any processed sugar for thirty days.

You reach into the fridge and grab the water and as you are shutting the door, you hear a faint whisper, "eattttt meeeeee. Just one won't hurttttt...c'mon...you know you want me...."


Situation: It's Friday night at 11:30 PM and you just tucked the kids into bed after helping chaperon the school field trip, taking the kid's to a birthday party at the jumpy house and then schlepping around Hell-Mart for an hour and half trying to gather all the decorating and food items for your brother's surprise party at your house Saturday night. Oh, and you still have to finish cleaning the house. You are signed up for a class at the gym in the morning, but you don't really want to go and can think of a billion reasons why you can't.

Will you eat the donut? Will you skip the gym?

In both of these situations, your "Why" will determine the outcome.

If your "Why" is a vague "I want to get fit" or "I want to lose 15 pounds" I guarantee you'll eat the donut and you'll skip the gym.

"Why" has to be specific. It has to be measurable. It has to be something that really gives you pause.

In both of the situations above, if your "Why" was, "I am having a benchmark physical at work in 30 days and I get a discount on insurance if my cholesterol is down", you are more likely to make the healthy choice.

If your "Why" was "I have signed up for a CrossFit competition on June 20th and I want to be the best I can be" you are more likely to make the healthy choice.

If your "Why" is, "I want to lose weight", that's not solid enough. That donut looks and tastes better than losing weight. That extra hour at the house feels less stressful than figuring out how to cram a gym session in on a Saturday when you are tired.

However, if your "Why" is "I am going to do everything in my power to lose 15 pounds by August 30th" AND someone else is doing the weigh in with you (accountability), you'll walk away from the donut and you'll go to the gym.

Here's some of my "Why"s that help me stay focused and make good choices.

1) I own a gym and I coach athletes to be the fittest they can be. I want to set a good example and motivate others, especially women and kids, to achieve things they never thought possible.

2) I will compete in August at the International Weightlifting Federation's Masters World Cup. I have to be strong and make weight.

3) I love to treat my nutrition like a test and try to "pass the test" every day. Did I reach my macro goals? Are all of my micro nutrients checked off? I'm a nerd and that really works for me.

4) Lastly, the heart felt honest "why" I hold deep down inside. As a middle school student, probably 6th or 7th grade, I overheard a friend's mother call me, "short, fat and ugly." Well, by god I might be short and ugly, but as sure as hell will not let that woman win by being fat!

Here are some guidelines for figuring out your why.

1) What do you want deep down? Don't censor you thoughts here. Don't think about what others want. What do you want? (This is my first why)

2) What is a timeline that relates to what you want? (This is my second why)

3) Who can you involve in your why? (Lol, she doesn't know it, but friend's mom on number 4 and the IWF on number 2)

4) Does this why sound more appealing than a donut? Because it has to in order to work. (My number 3 because I'm a math dork and number 4 because I hate to lose)

Comment below and let me know your "Why". Let me be your accountability!

Stay strong y'all!

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