If There's A Will, There's A Way!

Happy Thursday!

For some reason, I've always liked Thursdays. Perhaps it is because it is one more day until Friday. But otherwise, I don't really know why I like them! They're just cool, I suppose. ;)

I wanted to write a post about willpower and how I personally am able to stick to my goals when many around me don't understand why I do what I do. I've been going back and forth trying to write a post like this, but Liz mentioned the topic so I decided that it was about time I get on that!

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I used to have no willpower whatsoever. Like none. I'd tell myself that I would do something, then I would give up because it wasn't satisfying. However, that has drastically changed. One thing that I now have going for me is willpower. I can firmly stick my foot down and say NO. I can keep going even though people question my motives and sometimes I stumble, but I get right back up again.

This is why I think I am destined to compete one day, as I have the willpower of pure steel!

I love my brother with all of my heart. But, let's think about this. He's a teenage boy with a metabolism as fast as the speed of light. I could look in my pantry and fridge right now and pick out French toast, pizza, cheesy garlic bread, tortilla chips, etc. Most people promoting eating a clean diet will tell you NOT to keep that food in the house, however, I have it all around me because I can't tell my brother to get rid of his food.

What's my alternative? That's right: willpower.

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Every time I open the fridge or look in the pantry I can instantly look past the junk food and reach for my clean foods. Instead of that French toast, I have my Ezekiel bread. Instead of that pizza, I have whole wheat pitas. Instead of tortilla chips, I reach for my whole grain brown rice cakes.

I am by no means saying I NEVER eat that 'junk' food. (I love me some Oreos and Pop Tarts) As I am trying to put on more weight, I don't take the easy way out and stuff myself with crap food. I do it by stuffing myself with clean foods so that I am getting an array of healthy vitamins and minerals that support my goals and make my body healthier. And believe me, so many people point their fingers at me with this, saying "Well WHY don't you just eat really bad foods? That will definitely put the weight on. That makes no sense that you're trying to put on weight with healthy foods..." Because you CAN put on weight with healthy foods, you just need to eat MORE of them. And I want to do it the right way, not the easy way. Does that make sense now? No? Oh well, don't worry about my motives.

At school, I would bring in a huge bag of clean foods. I couldn't even use a traditional brown paper bag because I couldn't fit everything in it. I used a real plastic bag from a grocery store. One example of my lunch would be a chicken breast, a sweet potato with almond butter, a huge Tupperware container of vegetables, and an apple. Here I am, eating all of this, while I could easily go get in line for some curly fries or pizza. One person even came up to me one day and had the nerve to say: "You eat ALL of this? You sure do eat a lot..." And yes, they said this as they were shoving their face with curly fries. Its makes you wonder.

When you're trying to eat healthy or stick to your workouts, you must keep your goals at the forefront of your mind. If someone tries to bully you into eating ice cream that you just don't want, practice saying NO firmly. If someone says you're "wasting your time" lifting weights and sticking to your exercise regimen, tell them you're doing it for you and if they don't understand why, then who cares? You don't understand why they're so judgmental and ignorant but you're moving on with your life too. 

It's willpower. It's the fight to keep fighting. What's that one phrase? Oh, right: if there's a WILL, there's a WAY! :) 

Questions: Do you have really strong willpower as well? Has anyone questioned your healthy lifestyle? If so, how did/do you handle it?

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