Seven years of hard work have paid off for me. Since I decided to change my life, I have being working towards my goals, and I have achieved many of them. When I look back, I can conclude that my life has improved because of all the changes I have made, not because of luck.
I think about many of the Custom Body Fitness members who started years ago. Many of them have lost a significant amount of weight and transformed their bodies. Others have lost weight, left Custom Body Fitness only to later return because they lost motivation and gained the weight back.
Those who lose weight and continue getting in shape are those who are the most disciplined. No matter what happens in their lives, they continue eating healthily and exercise regularly. Many times they come and tell me their stories and struggles with their family, business or job, health, finances, losses and emotions. It amazes me that they continue taking care of themselves.
I can tell you that in these seven years I have learned a lot from my experiences. I had struggles like many of my clients’, unsuccessful knee surgery, my brother’s car accidents, my dog’s life-threatening surgeries, car issues, identity theft, unsuccessful heart-breaking relationships and lack of help at CBF. However, just like many of our members, I did not stop taking care of all areas of my life: spiritual, family, health, professional and financial.
What I know is that life happens to everyone, and whatever happens is not here to stay. It will pass, and the two options we have are to stop and be devastated or continue with our goals and take care of the situation as we move forward. Many of our members know this as well.
It reminds me of the analogy in the Bible about the dream of the pharaoh that Joseph interpreted. There are seven fat cows and seven skinny cows. The skinny cows come and eat the fat cows. According to Joseph, there will be seven years of abundance and seven of scarcity. Therefore, when we are in abundance, we must take care of our areas and have reserves for the seven years of scarcity.
Like I said, these past seven years have been a blessing for me with a couple of inconveniences mentioned above. Nevertheless, 2017 was the most difficult one. I was hit spiritually/emotionally, family, financially and professionally. I think right now I am in my best shape ever, but the rest of my areas are suffering significantly even though I continue doing my best.
This does not mean that I am giving up on my dreams; it means that tough times have come, and I need to endure to my dream, my heart’s desires and continue taking care no matter how difficult it gets. It means that I should have been prepared for this time like Joseph did by reserving.
I once heard that life is a series of problems, and the only break we have is a crisis. So it goes like this” problems, problems, problems and more problems, crisis; problems, problems, problems and more problems, crisis.
And I also heard that we should not ask for fewer problems, we should ask for more wisdom and skills.
In other words, weight loss or any other goal you have will never happen unless you know how to deal with all these inconveniences as you continue moving forward. They have always existed and will always exist.
Sandro Torres is owner of Custom Body Fitness in Carbondale and Glenwood Springs and author of the book “Lose Weight Permanently.” His column appears on the second Monday of the month in Body & More.
