Have you ever had a week when you were doing all your usually successful work in your usually successful way but, instead of success, your results just suck. Yeah, me, too.
I grew up doing sales at the knees of my grandmother and father starting as early as I can remember in my mid-single-digit years. I fondly remember, whenever I complained to my Dad, Leo, that what I was selling wasn’t selling, he’d always reply, “Well, if at first you don’t succeed, keep on sucking until you do succeed.” In my motivational seminars I teach overcoming stagnation by using the mantra “Insist. Persist. Resist.”
Insist you know what you are doing and be sure you do.
Persist in what you are doing and be sure you do.
Resist the temptation to quit what you are doing and be sure you don’t.
Case in point. On day four of my famous 5-day meal replacement bar weight loss crash plan, I was rocking along after losing 5.3, 2.3, and 1.4 pounds each of the first three days. Then, on day four, nothing. Same weight as I was on day three. 177. No change. I did the same thing that I had done the previous four days. I ate only food bars in the same amount and at the same rate throughout the day as I had before. I exercised at the same times, for the same amount of time, at the same resistance as I had before. I did everything as I had before. But this time with no positive results.
I know weight loss is a matter of energy intake and usage. But I also know the body slows its metabolism to spare fat mass when its owner restricts intake and increases activity. I am back at it today, still eating and moving as I have been. And if I resist the temptation to quit, I know my body will convert some fat mass and lower my body’s fat mass set point in the next day or two to get me down to my 175 pound goal and continue lower toward my optimal BMI of 25 at 155 pounds.
Check in next time to see if persistence pays off.