Hey there,

It’s kind of funny how people have such different levels of self awareness and what an impact it has on their success or failure.  I was huffing and puffing away at the gym tonight and had set a goal of 30 minutes on the elliptical stairs.

At about the 15 minute mark my head started playing tricks on me for a few minutes and I had almost convinced myself that I couldn’t keep going.  I had that talk with myself and remembered what Lance always said about his ability to “suffer” being key to his success.

A quick check of my HR showed a steady 150 ish which tells me I was more than capable of continuing…so I did.  I mentally ground it out and after a few minutes got a second wind.  It was kind of neat to win that small battle with myself and it reminds me how much of weight loss is mental.

[ad#ad-1]In fact, the mental aspect plays into almost anything we do.  It can take us to new heights or it can put us down and keep us down, but one thing is clear….it is your choice.  You can choose to be stronger or you can choose to stay on the same self destructive path that you are on today.  If you can master your mind, then you can master your body, your career, your marriage….you name it.

The brain is the number one muscle you should exercise when trying to become a healthier you.  Israel had a post on his FatManUnleashed blog that touched on the subject and you can find a number of different articles about the subject if you google it.

Mental Toughness…….I highly recommend it and it is one of the reasons I like the Nutrisystem program.  It includes a detailed booklet called the Mindset Makeover that retrains your brain how to feel about food and it’s been a big help.

The concept can be applied to anything you do, not just a diet.  I can tell you one thing from years of being a yo-yo dieter that the mental aspect is definitely critical to your long term success.

No Pain…..No Gain.