You Say You Want To Change, But Do You Really?
By admin
The sun is coming up a bit later, the chill each morning is beginning to lesson, and the heat from the sun is getting a little stronger each day. I think it’s safe to say that the weather is making a change for the best.
Spring in Charleston is here (hopefully to stay), and I have to say, I welcome the change with open arms.
Change… now that’s a concept we talk a lot about. We want the weather the change, we want to change up our houses, our wardrobe, our bodies… but wanting to change, and actually making the change are two completely different things.
About 3 weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to sit with with Bryan Ganey. Bryan and I met at the beginning of the year when we were asked to partake in a “Healthy Charleston” news event. I was the personal trainer on board, and he was the success story.
And when I say success, I mean success.
This was Bryan a few years ago:
Weighing in at over 570 lbs.
This is Bryan today:
And no, he didn’t have surgery to help his weight loss. He did it the old fashioned way… with a commitment to making a change (or two, or three).
For years he had told himself, “This year… I am going to lose the weight.” He was the classic yo-yo dieter… would drop weight only to see it come back on with interest.
While he wanted to change, at that point he just wasn’t REALLY in it to win it.
What happened?
He had a breaking point… he was hospitalized and almost died because of blood clots. That was his, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH moment.
That was the moment, where he decided to change not just his body, but his frame of mind and his life.
Although doctors, pushed the idea of weight loss surgery, Bryan knew that wouldn’t help the underlining issues: obsessive eating and a lazy lifestyle. He wanted to learn how to lose the weight and this time keep it off for good.
And that’s what he did… on April 6th, he’s be running the Bridge Run with me and 33,000 others. He’s a success.
What This Have To Do With You & Me?
Yes, Bryan had to lose a lot of weight and his story is quite severe compared to many of us, however we can all learn from his experience.
If you want to change:
You have to have that breaking moment when you decide that excuses are no longer valid.
That realization that just because you tell yourself (or others) that you’re eating as clean and healthy as you can probably isn’t the case. And you decide it’s time to really commit to a path to make change happen.
Let’s face it… you aren’t going to fit into your bathing suit, just by hanging it up on the door.
I’m Just As Guilty
I am human, I set goals for myself weekly but then tend to push them aside saying I’ll get back on track Monday. I have good days, great days, bad days, and worst days… but each day I have the choice to say how bad I really want something. And if I don’t work towards my goal, then clearly I don’t want it bad enough.
I didn’t get to where I am today by sitting on a couch. If I took that route, I would still be almost 40 pounds heavier, and probably finishing up a PH.D somewhere, never have finding my true passion… this.
What was my breaking point, my ENOUGH IS ENOUGH moment?
I remember it like it was yesterday… I was trying clothes in with my mom during spring break. The spring before I had been a size 2/4, so I grabbed a size 4 of a pair of Express blue capri pants. My mom handed me a 6, “just in case”.
The 4s would not go up my legs… and the 6s would not button… the 8s were the magic fit. It was that moment in the dressing room that I realized what I had done to my body, that the excuse of “oh, this is my natural figure” was just that… an excuse I had been using.
I made that change that day to start exercising and to start trying to make better decisions with my food. Of course, in my younger years those changes were all over the place, often times far too severe.
But one change led to another, and another and now I am here.
And I am happy.
Happiness doesn’t just show up at the door step, if you’re not happy then do something about it and don’t rely on others to make it happen. That’s perhaps the biggest lesson along the way that i have learned.
And on that note, I am ending on this:
“Don’t be afraid of change. Oftentimes you will lose something good, and then gain something even better.” – Unknown
-Have you ever had an Enough Is Enough moment?
-What’s your favorite motivational quote?
I want to thank Bryan for allowing my the opportunity to sit with him and chat. We ended up filming an amazing interview that lasted for over an hour! We’re in the process of editing it to bring that to you. Find out more about Bryan Ganey at his Blog: Www.Ganey.Com