The two most common roadblocks I hear about or have experienced when developing a healthy lifestyle are these:
1. A household with temptation everywhere.
2. Asking yourself "why won't this work?" instead of, "what can I do to make this work?"
I call these roadblocks "situations" because you solve them by creating a different atmosphere, and not by force of will or motivation. Motivation and willpower aren't enough if you really want to change your lifestyle. You have to set up situations to your advantage.
Too Much Temptation:
I recently spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house, and now I know why they have a hard time eating right. Their refrigerator and kitchen are full of foods they shouldn't eat. There's plenty of healthy food, but right alongside the lean turkey breast are three varieties of soda pop and two kinds of beer.
You might as well face the fact that your kitchen and refrigerator will make or break you. Get all of the foods you know are unhealthy out of there and don't buy them anymore! At the very least, put all of the unhealthy stuff in an inconvenient place all by itself, and all the healthy foods right up front.
The Wrong Questions:
I get this a lot: "It's going to be really hard for me this week because of (insert any number of excuses here)." When you make a statement like this, you are giving a lot of reasons for why you won't be able to do what you think is expected. In order to come up with this statement, you had to ask yourself, "why will I not be able to stick with the program this week?"
The question you need to ask is, "what do I need to do to make this work?"
For example, if you're going to be out of town, you need to ask yourself how you will make it work. Should you wake up early? Do you need to tell the people you are with that you will need to take 30 minutes to exercise? Will you need to bring your own food? Will you need to set an alarm for every meal to make sure you get them all in?
When you ask yourelf "what do I need to do to make this work?", you are creating a situation where your brain starts thinking of solutions instead of excuses.
These solutions are simple and effective, and I can't stress enough that you must deal with them! Living an active, healthy life in today's culture is not "normal", so you might as well give up thinking you can "go with the flow" and stay healthy. You have got to take a stand and change your situation in order to succeed. Don't be afraid to be different. It will add years to your life and raise the quality of your daily existence.
