Faith. Discipline. Patience.

Take my hand, and I will lead you down a road of tiny waist lines, toned yet small quads, shapely figures, and happier dispositions. If you trust me, I can give you the body you always dreamed of. All you have to do is take this tiny pill and everything you eat will magically turn to zero calories.….I would also like to have a real Pegasus/unicorn and have super power like Rogue from the X-Men. Unfortunately, I don’t think magical horses have been discovered yet and genetic mutation is not in my future. The truth is, if anything were easy, it wouldn’t be worth it. Think about the things that you are the proudest of in your life: your kids, job promotions, state and national sports titles, educational degrees. It’s those journeys and experiences that make you the successful, strong, and inspiring person that you are. Why would it be any different in regards to our bodies and changing them? Changing our bodies should be looked at in the same light and deserve the same due diligence of faith, discipline, and patience.

Faith. There is faith in a higher power and religion. There is the faith we have in our partners that they will remember to pick up sweet potatoes and almond milk from the grocery store that we texted them earlier about. It can be easy to place faith in others, but placing faith in ourselves can be the hardest because there is no one else to blame if processes comes into question. When starting a new fitness plan or listening to a personal trainer who is telling you something radically different than what you are used to, that can be rather scary. Why should you trust them? What makes them so sure that what they are telling you will work. What if it doesn’t? What if I gain weight? What if it fails? But that is exactly what the idea of faith is. It’s not only your trainer that you have to trust, but to have faith and trust in yourself. We have to put faith in the process and trust in our trainers and ourselves that we can stick to the plan. That goals can be achieved and I can be Rogue from X-Men…well, maybe not that far. But, with enough discipline and persistence, change can be made.

Discipline. The guts to stick to the plan—do you have them? Discipline is really a testament to mental capabilities. Just like with every obstacle in life, it’s grinding through and holding yourself accountable that makes you stronger. It is always easy to turn into the fast food drive-in or binge on the left-over bag of Reese’s peanut butter chocolate seasonal Christmas Trees. It would be easy, but in the end, is it worth it? Look down those dark tunnels of temptation and desire, and say no or yes in moderation. Every time you look down that tunnel and decide “I want that, but I don’t need that”, you redefine yourself. You test yourself with grace and patience and put faith in the process as well as yourself.

Patience. Much like the Karate Kid, if we rush into a fight with someone from the Cobra Kai dojo, we might end up outmatched and left in a puddle of frustration. Change takes time. Anything ever done in hast rarely has a lasting impression. Most of the time when someone is trying to sell us a quick-fix, we become skeptical. Why should we have any different approach with our bodies? You will fall off the ladder. A co-worker brings in cookies, and we might have one, two, or six. You might feel sad and you might feel guilty or displeased with yourself. But you will still wake up the next day and sun will peak its sleepy head above the horizon, and just like that a new day is born. A new chance to make some healthier choices and to drink an extra bottle of water that day.

Things will change. It doesn’t begin on 1/1/2018. It begins every day when you wake up and decide whether you have faith and trust in yourself, to believe in yourself. That you are determined and strong enough to be disciplined in nutrition and lifting plan. That you can do this and that with patience and time, your body will change with diligence and hard work. You can make it happen. And maybe, just maybe, one day, you just might get a Pegasus/unicorn too….well, that’s what I am going to keep dreaming of anyways.