Ask not where you have been, but where you are going

September feels like the start of a new year – a fresh start and a great time to recommit to our goals of healthy eating and exercise. Why not take some time to think about your goals, and what positive steps you can implement to get you there?
To quote Vivian Laramore: "I've shut the door on yesterday and thrown the key away – tomorrow holds no fears for me, since I've found today.”
Remember always that yesterday ended last night. So, today it is more valuable to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret. Don't let regrets replace your dreams.
When we find ourselves ‘lacking motivation', it's because we have stopped looking ahead at the incredible possibilities that we are capable of achieving. We stand, almost paralysed in self-doubt, wondering why we have lost that enthusiasm we had when we first started on our quest for losing weight and becoming more fit. You have to learn to force yourself to think forward, to dream forward, and to hope forward. This is a learned exercise. Learn that it is more valuable to look where you are going, not to dwell on where you have been. Don't see your future only from the perspective of yesterday. It becomes too easy to limit everything and hinder the dream within you.
If, today or yesterday or last month, you felt you ate too much, or didn't lose the weight you wanted to, what is the best thing to do? Is it to give in and say "I've failed again”, or "I'll never get to my goal”: or is it to say, "I messed up for a short time, but now I'm ready to recommit to my healthy eating plan”. If today or yesterday or last month, you did not exercise, do you say "I really lack motivation”, or "I have no time to fit this in to my crazy life”: or do you say "If I start to do 1 or 2 or 3 sessions of exercise per week then I will be getting quite fit by Christmas time”.
All I want people to do is think about possibilities. Don't think of recent or remote failures. Tomorrow, and next week and next month can bring incredible opportunities, incredible changes. Those who predominantly talk about the past are going backwards. Those who talk about the present are usually just maintaining. But those who talk about the future are growing.
There is no magic in losing weight or becoming fit. Everyone knows what to do. The difficulty is staying focused on our next goal. So, never give up on yourself. Just keep trying to learn how to dream about what you can do in the next month or two. It's not hard, but you have to know what you want to achieve, why you want to achieve it, then you will begin to apply all the diet and exercise knowledge that you have to do the how.
Everyone I meet are such great people. Each has their own talents, their own incredible personalities, their own dreams. And yes, we all have challenges in our lives too. But I want everyone to see themselves in a positive fashion, knowing that each person can achieve anything they want!
Just don't give up. Hang in there, especially when you feel the going is tough.
You can do it!
Dr. Doug