FUEL: March 20, 2015

Spoiler Summary: It can be years in the making....it can take a lot of soul searching to get organized and ready....it almost always takes consistent action over time.....and it's happening right now, sometimes quietly in the people you'd least expect.

What is the first image that pops into your head when you hear the word "achievement"?  Is it something fit for an athletic shoe company ad where a person crossing a finish line has arms raised high? Or maybe something more about the effort to achieve - like the image of a hand, clutching a cold, brightly-colored bottle of "ade" resting up against a sweaty brow as if to say "whew"?  Maybe it's a team of climbers reaching the summit of a snowy peak? Or the moment a team swarms the player who just did the winning "thing"?  But what about the person quietly making changes?  The person who's trying to make a comeback?  Are they the first image that you think of?  Me either. Until.....their story is sitting in front of you and you realize exactly how much work they've done.

 

I got an email recently from one of our coaches to share some good news about someone who had been working hard to make some changes.  After deciding she didn't have enough energy to keep up with her young family and her doctor urged her to take control of her health, she decided she was ready.  After looking at options and time constraints, she decided (30 days prior) to get after nutritional change. With the help of her coach, she made a strong effort to eat a higher quality diet, with a much higher percentage of plant-based foods and lower percentage of processed & sugary stuff......and 30 days later she is having success.  She's not only had a significant weight loss, she's also cut her "bad cholesterol" (LDL) in half and put herself into the lowest risk category on 4 of 5 key health metrics. Impressive.

Now, this is not some type of super-athlete. It is not a person who is working on lowering her 40 yard dash time or improving her vertical leap or maximizing her bench press.....I don't expect to see her cutting down the nets in Tampa early next month.....but this is definitely the face of achievement.  This is a person who is stronger and happier; this is a person who is enjoying the healthier version of herself - she was sick of being sick.....she knew she could do better and so she did. This is a person who decided to treat her health like an asset....and invest time and energy into making a more permanent change. She got serious, gained energy and lost stress. She lost some weight, set a strong example for her kids and drastically altered her risk of chronic disease in the process......her direct quote was: "This has been an amazing opportunity.  I'm loving life.  I cannot wait to see what is around the next corner." 

This person's image is probably not the first image that pops into our minds when we think of "achievement"....but maybe hers, and others who have tackled similar challenges should be.

 

It is amazing.  It is life changing.  It can be done.