If you’re into boxing you might have heard about this expression. Telegraphing a punch is when by subtle movements, a boxer let’s the opponent know which way he’s going to punch which will allow the opponent to bobble and get out of the way before the punch happens. If the boxer can overcome telegraphing his punches, he’ll have a better chance of winning the fight.
Yesterday, I found myself telegraphing my intent to quit the competition. I took my pictures and measurements and unfortunately, after working really hard last week there were not many changes in my physique. I found myself wanting to push the competition date further and caught myself thinking “why am I doing this if it’s not working?” I wrote in the wall of my group “I’m having an off day and I’m ready to quit, I don’t like my pictures today.” However, when comparing my pictures from yesterday to the ones I took in February when I started the training, the changes are huge and I have come a long way. Thankfully, I have a husband who won’t let me get away with quitting, nor will he allow me to push my competition date any further and on top of that, I have a great accountability group that has offered me their support. I would have quitted a long time ago if it weren’t for them!
This morning I woke up feeling better and I realized what’s missing from my training is getting adequate rest. After sitting down with Joseph and discussing this, we figured something that will work for me… I will be going to the gym straight from work, instead of having dinner first, waiting two or many times three and a half hours to go to the gym because all I want to do is stay home and not have to workout again at night. I end up coming home from the gym way too late, going to bed past 11:00 and then up by 4:00 to do Insanity and the rest all over again. By doing this, I’m only sabotaging my training, my rest and giving myself even more reasons to quit. Last night when I had that conversation with Joseph, all I could hear were my mother’s words on one of our many mother-daughter conversations: “none of my kids are quitters!”
So, enough of this self-sabotage on my part! At the same time, I invite you to take a look at your promises to start taking care of yourself… consider that every time you have stopped working out and eating healthy, you are doing something that is a self-sabotage. What is it? Dig deep into your intentions, look for your reasons of “why are you doing this?” Trust me when I say this, I have been really struggling these past couple of weeks and have to constantly talk myself out of quitting and when I can’t talk myself out of it, I look for support from the girls or my husband. It works to have support, more importantly, if you do quit, take responsibility for quitting and don’t blame anyone else. No one can really “make you” do something you don’t want to do… (unless your life is being threatened.)
It’s so important to find the right type of support you need as well. I don’t always like to hear “you need to rest more” because I know it’s true. I don’t always like to hear “you shouldn’t eat that right now” because I now it’s true and I especially don’t like to hear “you CAN’T quit right now” because I know that this is 100% true. Surround yourself by people who will support you in your intentions to get healthy. It’s so easy to find people who are resigned about their weight and health issues, it’s easy to feel resigned but it’s courageous to step out of the box and fight that tendency to do nothing about it. Be courageous, reach out and ask for help and support… heck I hate asking for it, but I am reminded that I’m not perfect and I need ALL the support possible when I’m ready to throw in the towel. The truth is that I would have never, ever started this journey to better health and fitness had I not had an awesome Beachbody coach who saw in me what was possible and not the proof that I was seeing in the mirror and in my pictures. Every now and then, he’d give me a gentle kick in the butt to get me to push harder. There is no way I’d be able to workout the way I’m doing today, had I quit P90X, RevAbs or Insanity.
The only secret to success is getting the support you need to ensure that you don’t quit when you start to feel discouraged. When you notice yourself telegraphing your intentions to quit… notice that, stop and know that the only way to succeeding is by not quitting. So don’t quit!