Positive Attitude | Fat Fighting Foodie

I think there is much truth in the words of Bobby McFerrin:

In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double

As a rule, I tend not to worry about things. My mum won’t mind me telling you that she is a big worrier. I have often encouraged her to ask herself the following question when she finds herself worrying about something:

Can you do anything about it? If the answer is ‘yes’, great! Do something about it and then you won’t need to worry about it anymore. If the answer is ‘no’, well then there’s no point in worrying about it.

This has become a kind of mantra that I use and I know my mum has begun to worry less since asking herself this simple question.

Do you have any mantras that help you put a positive spin on a negative thought? Let me know in the comments section.

And if all else fails, have a sing-a-long with Bobby – it might at least help to lift your spirits.

Thanks for reading,

FFF

I’ve had a bit of a mixed experience when it comes to exercise this weekend.

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Firstly, I went to my normal spinning class on Friday despite me not being that keen on the music now that there’s a new instructor. When the class started, she announced that she’d be doing a couple of extra tracks at the end of the normal class but gave people the option of leaving after the timetabled 45mins. I firmly decided “No! It’s Friday night. I’d only planned on doing the normal 45mins. At soon as possible, I’m out of here!”.

However, as the class progressed, I started to think, “I’m here now, so I might as well do a little bit extra. It’s early on a Friday evening after all so I still have the rest of the weekend to do other stuff.” To my own surprise, I stayed and worked really hard for the extra 13mins. I left feeling very pleased with myself.

On Saturday morning, I was back to Parkrun after a break of a couple of weeks. I was running it with two of my cousins – one of whom left her house at 4:45am to drive 140miles to take part (yes she is a bit mental but we love her!). It was a nice sunny but cold morning so I was thinking it was going to be a lovely run. However, about 1mile in to the 3mile course, my hip-flexor started to pull. I tried to ignore it and focus on my music thinking that as I got into my stride a bit more it would probably loosen up a bit. It didn’t. By about mile 2 it was really hurting and all I wanted to do was to stop and walk. But I didn’t. It took a lot of positive thinking to keep me going including: the amazing challenge completed by Davina McCall for Sport Relief that I’d watched a programme about last week (Davina: Beyond Breaking Point). If she could keep going for all than distance, I could manage to complete a 5km run; all those who managed to complete the Coventry Half Marathon last week; and thinking about writing this blog post! Despite my hip being sore and this having the knock-on effect of making my lower back sore from my altered gait, I managed to keep running all the way around and still run a little bit faster over the last 100 yards (not my usual sprint finish but hey). I was surprised, and not a little proud, that I managed to dig-in mentally and keep going. Even more surprisingly, when I checked my time this morning, it was actually only 47 seconds slower than my PB!!

During the run, and reflecting on my mental attitude towards it post-run, I started thinking about how the mind-set needed to complete a physical challenge is mirrored in the challenge of losing and maintaining weight: sometimes it is unexpectedly hard to keep going and obstacles that are not of your own making can slow you down. But if you keep a positive mental attitude, dig in and keep going, you can achieve your goals.

Thanks for reading.

PS How do you keep going when the going gets tough?