Many of us struggle to be healthy because we NEVER understood that discipline is a necessity for successfully living abundantly. Success leaves clues, ask anyone who is successful, and they will tell you that DISCIPLINE is an absolute must. As I wrote this post, I flashed back to when I was studying to become a physician. I had to be disciplined enough to put in the work, go the extra mile, and make some sacrifices. Of course, I wanted to go and hang out like my sister, but that was the time I needed to study for an upcoming exam.

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE FOR SUCCESS

If you are struggling to lose weight, one piece of advice I would offer is that it is important to change your perspective. If perspective does not work for you, then change your attitude. Do not look at discipline as a restriction. Don’t even think of it as a sacrifice if that bothers you. Instead think of discipline as a VITAL ingredient for you to achieve your goal. If you have been following me, you know I also like to say shift your focus from weight loss to gaining health. Another way you can look at it is instead of thinking weight loss, think fat loss. You want to lose the excess fat and gain muscle. Before you think, I do not want to be muscular, think again. As we age, we lose muscle and sag. Muscle gives us that lift, keeps us strong, decreases the risk of injury, improves our bone health, increases our metabolism, and enhances our quality of life.

A LACK OF DISCIPLINE WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR WEIGHT

I would always complain that I was disciplined in every other area of my life, except when it came to losing weight. Does this sound familiar? Consider that excess weight is an obvious indication that you are NOT HEALTHY. Then remember our health is our most prized physical possession and it is something that should be valued. It boggles my mind that I was willing to lose my health for an instant of gratification. That may not have been my intent; however, that is the message we convey when we CONSISTENTLY make choices that compromise our health.

1. How important is your health to you?
2. What are you willing to do to get totally healthy?

LIFESTYLE CHANGES MUST BE MADE FOR IMPROVED HEALTH

Before we can make any change in life, we must understand two things:

1. Why the change is necessary.
2. Why the outcome is important to us.

If you are struggling to lose weight, you must understand why you need to make a change now to get healthy. Furthermore, you must also understand why being healthy is IMPORTANT to you. My reasons are not your reasons. The reasons why we do anything in life are important, because they help us to:

1. Be consistent in taking healthy action
2. Persevere when we would otherwise give up
3. Endure some discomfort
4. Be patient when it looks like change is NOT occurring

WEIGHT ISSUES ARE SYMPTOMS OF MISALIGNMENT

My TOTAL HEALTH philosophy is based on the premise that we can NEVER be totally healthy is we are NOT in spiritual alignment with God’s will for our lives. If we are not SPIRITUALLY HEALTHY, we are by default also not TOTALLY HEALTHY. Being totally healthy will never be achieved when we work only on the outside. In fact, to be totally healthy, we MUST first be healthy internally, which means healthy in our hearts, minds, and souls. You cannot CHANGE the outside until you renew the inside!