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The humor comes and goes throughout Betsy's journey. She is able to come to the realization that she has always been a quitter, and she comes up with a Philosophy of Finishing. I liked that her book is very down to earth, and her philosophy is something that everyone can incorporate in their lives. There are no pills or fad diets-it's all about making realistic goals and going at a pace that will work for you. I really liked how she was able to change her attitude and not focus on what others think.
About the Book:
Guest Post by Betsy Schow:
Goal Keepers
Since it’s the start of the new year, and everyone is busy making New Year’s resolutions, I thought I’d touch on what I learned about making goals and keeping them.
Every year from age 12-30, I would make some cockamamie resolution. “Lose 40 pounds by March.” “Fit into size 2 pants.” “Write a bestseller by year’s end.” None of these things ever happened, so I would be disappointed and give up. Usually by the end of January.
You see, I had this picture in my mind of the way things should go, or what success would look like. And when things in reality didn’t match my mental picture, I would throw in the towel.
Turns out, I was setting myself up for disaster from the start. By picking out such a specific result and ideal, I didn’t allow for a little thing called life. Life is full of twists, turns, and potholes -- stuff we can’t control. That’s why I learned to set my goals based on my actions, the things I can control. Then to give myself credit for the hard work I put into keeping them.
Take for example the old goal of losing 40 pounds by March. Let’s say I work my tail off, hit the gym, eat all the right foods, but for whatever reason, my body rebels and refuses to let the scale budge any lower than 25 pounds lost. I used to look at this as a failure, I didn’t achieve my goal. Here’s the crazy part and what’s wrong with this scenario. I never gave myself credit for accomplishing a 25 pound weight loss. That’s still a great achievement and I’d worked really hard to get there, but I couldn’t see past my own self-imposed limitations. So I would go back to the twinkies and the bum indentation on the couch. Then within a few months, pack the 25 pounds back on, plus an extra ten for good measure.
Today, if I were going to make a similar resolution, I would word it differently. “I am going eat smaller portions and exercise for at least 45 minutes every day.” Notice I didn’t give myself an arbitrary number. I can’t control how fast my body decides to give up the fat. But I do have control over whether or not I eat less and exercise more. And if I follow through and do what I’ve said, then the results will come. The feeling of success comes from fulfilling my promises to myself, and not giving up. That’s important to hang on to when the scale needle gets stuck.
So often we ruin all the hard work that goes into a goal, because we don’t end up where we think we should. And every time the disappointment builds, making it that much harder to muster the effort to try again.
Change the way you think. Change the way you see success.
Learning how to finish and figuring out the philosophy of finishing has changed my life. “Not everyone can win the race, but everyone can finish it.” I’m not afraid of failure anymore, because I know as long as I put in the work and never give up, I will get there -- run, walk or crawl.
If you want to see how I came to learn this lesson and others, join my accidental adventure in Finished being Fat, available online and in select stores starting January 8th.
Since it’s the start of the new year, and everyone is busy making New Year’s resolutions, I thought I’d touch on what I learned about making goals and keeping them.
Every year from age 12-30, I would make some cockamamie resolution. “Lose 40 pounds by March.” “Fit into size 2 pants.” “Write a bestseller by year’s end.” None of these things ever happened, so I would be disappointed and give up. Usually by the end of January.
You see, I had this picture in my mind of the way things should go, or what success would look like. And when things in reality didn’t match my mental picture, I would throw in the towel.
Turns out, I was setting myself up for disaster from the start. By picking out such a specific result and ideal, I didn’t allow for a little thing called life. Life is full of twists, turns, and potholes -- stuff we can’t control. That’s why I learned to set my goals based on my actions, the things I can control. Then to give myself credit for the hard work I put into keeping them.
Take for example the old goal of losing 40 pounds by March. Let’s say I work my tail off, hit the gym, eat all the right foods, but for whatever reason, my body rebels and refuses to let the scale budge any lower than 25 pounds lost. I used to look at this as a failure, I didn’t achieve my goal. Here’s the crazy part and what’s wrong with this scenario. I never gave myself credit for accomplishing a 25 pound weight loss. That’s still a great achievement and I’d worked really hard to get there, but I couldn’t see past my own self-imposed limitations. So I would go back to the twinkies and the bum indentation on the couch. Then within a few months, pack the 25 pounds back on, plus an extra ten for good measure.
Today, if I were going to make a similar resolution, I would word it differently. “I am going eat smaller portions and exercise for at least 45 minutes every day.” Notice I didn’t give myself an arbitrary number. I can’t control how fast my body decides to give up the fat. But I do have control over whether or not I eat less and exercise more. And if I follow through and do what I’ve said, then the results will come. The feeling of success comes from fulfilling my promises to myself, and not giving up. That’s important to hang on to when the scale needle gets stuck.
So often we ruin all the hard work that goes into a goal, because we don’t end up where we think we should. And every time the disappointment builds, making it that much harder to muster the effort to try again.
Change the way you think. Change the way you see success.
Learning how to finish and figuring out the philosophy of finishing has changed my life. “Not everyone can win the race, but everyone can finish it.” I’m not afraid of failure anymore, because I know as long as I put in the work and never give up, I will get there -- run, walk or crawl.
If you want to see how I came to learn this lesson and others, join my accidental adventure in Finished being Fat, available online and in select stores starting January 8th.
Purchase the Book:
About the Author:
After many years of unhappiness and being unpleasantly plump, Betsy Schow found her way to weight loss success and a better life through the Philosophy of Finishing. She shares it all in her first book, Finished being Fat – available January 2013 from Cedar Fort Inc. You can find her running around the mountains of Utah, chained to her laptop, or
wrangling two small children.
Giveaway:
Betsy's Publisher, Cedar Fort, will be giving one eCopy of Finished Being Fat to a lucky Literary Time Out follower. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway is open until January 9th at 12:00 AM. The winner will be announced on my blog later that day.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
To get in better shape (of course!) I lost nearly 40 pounds last year and still need to get rid of 15 more.
ReplyDeleteGood going! You can do it, you already have ;)
DeleteNo surprises here...it's weight loss. I just had a baby so I want to get back to prepregnancy shape...as soon as the dr says its okay...
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the little one. Enjoy the time and know you can do it when you're ready
Deletewell, I've got 20 lbs of baby weight to get off.....so that is about all I can think about, but it will probably take about the rest of the year to get it off. :)
ReplyDeleteI have not because it stresses me out when I say I am going to do something and it doesn't happen so I just go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteTo be happy try and go with the flow :)
ReplyDelete