Operator Error

I must admit, I'm constantly intrigued at how people interpret things.

For instance, I was reading a while back about someone who was re-living their fat loss experience. They claimed that "X" program didn't work. They only lost Y amount of lbs., and therefore the program was a bust.

However, if you read the whole post, they discussed how they missed some workouts, didn't stick to the diet 100%, and otherwise had a few lapses in judgement that could have affected the results.

Excuse me - huh?

If I can get all psychological on you here for a second, there's this little thing called your locus of control. Some people have an internal locus - basically, they understand that what they do has a direct influence on the results they receive.

In contrast, others have an external locus of control - while they understand their actions to some degree influence their results, they are very quick to blame outside factors for the good or bad that comes of them.

There's an old quote that goes something like this: "You're exactly where you deserve to be in life." In other words if you have the body you want, a great job, family life, etc., it's because you've worked hard to achieve it. If your overweight, out of shape, have a crummy job or crummy relationships, well, you've done something to achieve that result as well.

This is a key concept: You have to understand that YOU have gotten yourself to your current state. YOU have direct control over the future. Your relationships, your body, your career - the key constituent in all these things is YOU. Sure, outside influences play a role, but the second you stop blaming outside influences the better off you'll be.

With regards to your body, blaming anything on a program or diet is weak. Sure, there are some programs and diets out there that are better than other, but step back and look at the big picture. You control how hard you train, your recovery, and what you put in your mouth. The sooner you realize that you control what goes on with your body, the sooner you're going to make some wholesale changes and truly enjoy the body that you have.

Stay strong
MR