An e-mail from a follower;

A lot of the e-mails I get have a lot of the same questions and themes so I just thought every once in a while maybe I’ll answer one here- No worries- I will never use names. And if you specifically do NOT want me to use an e-mail (even though it’s anonymous) just say so in your e-mail. Otherwise, it’s officially game lol. Here’s an excerpt from an e-mail I received recently:

“…. I attribute much of it to my job; I used to be on my feet all day and now while working on my Masters I’m nannying, aka sitting on my butt most of the day. Where do I even begin? I have been-loosely-using Weight Watchers off and on this year. When I really stick to it, I see great results! But it can be difficult to track EVERYTHING I eat, especially with homemade meals. I would like to get down to 150, to start with. What is a realistic expectation and time frame?”

The mere notion that I might be able to give anyone an estimated timeline for their success is preposterous. Your success is DIRECTLY correlated to how much effort you put into it. I can tell you that I lost 60lbs in six months, but I was very overweight, I was committed to eating a certain way, and I went to the gym EVERY SINGLE DAY, sometimes putting in three hour gym sessions. There was nothing I wanted more than to lose that weight, so I literally devoted every second possible to attaining that goal. I can tell you that, but that has nothing to do with you, the things you want to achieve, or how hard you work. There is no chart that can tell you if you put in X amount of time at the gym a week and you eat well x amount of the time that you’ll lose X amount of pounds in X amount of time. THERE IS NO ANSWER! If you WANT to lose weight and see change, then DO THE WORK. Don’t worry about the time, it’s going to pass anyways.

I am the Sales and Logistics Coordinator for a large Military Brokerage Firm, which is a lot of words to say I sit at a desk in front of a computer full time. Full time. 40 hours a week. On my butt. And I’ve had this job since before I ever even thought about tackling my weight problem, so using your job as an excuse is just that- an excuse. I’m not saying these things to try and be mean or harsh or offensive or any of those other things I get called when I talk like this, I’m just saying that if you want what you say you want as badly as you say you want it- YOU WILL FIND A WAY. As for this follower specifically who is a Nanny? I would and will suggest to her that she bundle those kids up now that it’s getting cold out and take them to a park, or for a walk around the neighborhood… But again- I’m not here to tell anyone how to fit working out into their day- I’m just here to tell you that where there’s a will, there’s a way. I also don’t have a husband or kids of my own to consider during my days- but I have plenty of friends who do and still manage to make their fit lifestyles a priority of sorts.

As for the ‘Where did you start?’ question that’s pretty standard in e-mails, this is the part where I just copy and paste the link to the Facebook post I wrote about that very subject back in March 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/notes/fluff-to-buff/where-did-you-start/508023985922961 That usually answers all the questions associated with that!

I guess that’s it for this one- I hope I was able to make my point in a way that makes sense. There is no cookie cutter way or time frame to making these things happen. Work hard, eat well, stay consistent- the results will come.