In days of old, generals would burn bridges they crossed to prevent any sort of retreat. Captians of the sea would similarly burn their boats upon reaching their destination. This was their way of all but ensuring success, and of course motivating those in their charge. After all, if there is no other option, like turning back) success looks pretty good. Now on to you…
I have said it a million times to clients who engage in my fat loss programs- when you lose the weight, ditch the fat clothes. Here is my advice: Burn Your Britches.
Keeping the “fat clothes” around leaves you a fall back position. It gives you a way out. If you start to back slide, you can always just wear your fat pants. But what if you have no fat pants? Then what are you going to do? Get off your ass and pull your crap together- that’s what. (Just a little tough love from JC)
Now I am a big believer in practice what you preach, so here is my story: In the past few months I have lost near 40 pounds, and almost 6 inches off my waist. I can take all of my jeans off without unbuttoning them – and that could make for an embarrassing situation that I would prefer to avoid.
Below you will notice my stack of 36″ jeans; 5 pairs of them. This past weekend they went on sale at rock bottom prices at our garage sale (along with a bunch of other crap great stuff!)
I now have no fall back position. There is no going back. Even the best of us experience set backs, but the point is to not let them become permanent. I will not buy 36″ jeans again. The problem is right now I have only one pair of 34″ pants, so shopping is in my future. That is really a rarely documented side effect / benefit of fat loss: The new wardrobe.
Back to you: When you are losing weight you can only buy three things: shoes, hats & gloves. When you hit milestones like a few dress sizes, or a few inches off your waist then make some bigger purchases. Do this as soon as you can because on top of the potential hazards of having a “fat pants” safety net, oversized clothes generally look like crap on a newly in shape body, so show it off.
Burn your britches- ensure your success.
Joshua Carter
http://carterfitness.com
As a Curves owner, and recent postee on another of your blogs…I, of course, have been checking out your site…
Love this blog! I hear about women (ok, including myself) falling off the wagon and wearing their fat pants again for one reason or another, so this was great. Congrats on your success and thanks for the post!
Michelle
Thanks Michelle!
JC