Obstacle or Opportunity?

Often when it comes to life’s challenges, we instantly make a judgement as to if we can deal with it or not. More frequently than not, that decision is rushed without actually thinking it through, and if it’s regarding our food choices we usually see the obstacle rather than the opportunity. This is a behaviour that, with practice, can be reversed. All to often we allow ourselves to be led away from what we keep saying we really want, to what we’ve always done. It’s time to…..

Your mindset is the biggest weapon you have in the battle of the bulge, so instead of always seeing these challenges as obstacles, let’s focus on turning them into opportunities!!!

Take these different scenarios……

1. You have been given a month long holiday in the Bahamas all inclusive. This could be seen as a chance of a lifetime, you can eat and drink as much as you want, all of which will all be cooked, prepared and cleaned away for you, drinks whenever you wish, maid service and butler service! What a life!! You can always deal with the weight gain when you get back, but you couldn’t miss out on this! BUT what if you turn it into an opportunity, a chance to make a massive difference to your health, weight, well-being and confidence. Imagine knowing you were going on this fabulous holiday, that should help to focus your mindset on how you want to look, let’s say you’ve got 6 months to wait, at 1 lb a week you could be virtually 2 stone lighter!! We all say losing weight would be easier if we didn’t have to cook for others, plan for others, shop for others, go to work etc! Well you won’t be. All the delicious fresh fruit, see food, salads will all be readily available, it’ll be hot, so lot’s of water to stay hydrated, warm pools and sea to swim in, what a fabulous opportunity to build on your success, imagine what your family and friends will say when you return, glowing with confidence, self-esteem and looking fabulous!
2. You are spending a celebratory weekend with family and friends.This is possibly 2 – 3 days where you may find it challenging to make wise choices, but if you take a step back and think about what you COULD do, rather than what you CAN’T. There will always be challenges, but if you’re looking at it is an obstacle you’ll already be looking for negatives. Worst case, it’s 3 days at the outside where you may be compromised, but that still leaves 4 days and possibly the next couple of weeks.
3. You are working away from home in a hotel for a week. This is similar to the holiday in the Bahamas, look for the positives, they are there, just look for them, there might be a gym/spa for the evenings that could help kill some of that “idle hands” syndromes!! You get to choose from a selection of foods for breakfast, lunch and evening meals – no snacks will be available, unless you’ve taken them!
4. You are spending the weekend in a luxury Spa. Very similar to the first three, yes there may be challenging food and drink, but you can choose exactly what’s on your plate, there’s also the opportunity to do more activity, drink water,be pampered and feel great. And again, its 2 days! Keep it in perspective!
5. Your partner/child is working away from home for 6 months. You may have built your life around the person who’s working away, their meals take preference over yours, they may be your rock and you feel totally lost and adrift without them. Your sense of purpose may also be lost, leaving you feeling downhearted, distraught and altogether, probably what’s the point in doing anything just for me!! But how many times have you thought, I could do so well if I only had to consider my needs, no rubbish snacks to buy as they want them, no temptations, no shall we have that today!! Imagine what 6 months of focusing on just you could look like, as previously said, could be nearly 2 stone lighter, and that’s at 1lb a week. How fantastic could you feel when you see them after all that time, wouldn’t it be amazing to finally feel good about yourself!!
6. You’ve just been given a health diagnosis that’s shocked you. Lastly, the health diagnosis, it may be high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, needing replacement joints. I’ve known many people who have waited for a replacement and said after that they’ll aim to become healthier with their food choices and lifestyle, equally with medication . It’s often seen as the only way to get better. But every single health issue DOES benefit from changing the way you eat and becoming more active, in fact, nearly all studies show a marked improvement in symptoms when the person actively deals with the diagnosis and takes positive steps.

All of these scenarios are slightly different, and they all present either obstacles, or opportunities. How you choose to focus on them will ultimately determine your success.

In a nutshell, life will never always be plain sailing, if you’re looking for obstacles you will always find them, interestingly we discussed this in our meeting, and even something as simple as “If I didn’t have to work it would be so much easier” to those who don’t work saying “If I had to got to work I could plan better” The grass isn’t greener on the other side, so it’s time to play with the cards life has dealt you in the moment. Opportunities and Obstacles are simply the reverse side of the same coin, try flipping it to the opportunity! If it’s important enough, you WILL find a way!

Obstacles and opportunities go hand in hand. The difference lies in the way we perceive them.

DR PREM JAGYASI