Overcoming Your Weaknesses

The one thing that builds your character the most is having the ability to overcome your weaknesses.  Everybody has qualities of all sorts, both strengths and weaknesses.  Only you know what they are.  Some people choose to shy away at the things they are not great at because they’re afraid to fail.  You only fail if you don’t try.  If you do it enough and work hard at anything, you will succeed.  You can turn your weakness into your strongest quality.

Doing things that you are great at may be enjoyable but you must challenge yourself by working on your weaknesses.  I choose to work on my weakness to challenge myself until that weakness becomes one my strongest qualities. 

Growing up, I watched my mom deal with the difficulty of having asthma and other health issues.  My mom was overweight and did very little exercise.  She often had to fight to catch her breath when she was just walking.  Lucky for me, I am the only one in the family who inherited asthma from my mom.  As a child, I knew I didn’t want to be unhealthy like her. 

I developed my own eating habits and exercise routine.  I didn’t make excuses for myself for not having perfect lungs and I make sure to stay active and jog often.  I jogged everyday to build up my endurance and my breathing.  Up to this day, I have no problem running 4 miles daily even with asthma.  However, if you’re just starting out, be sure to consult your physician before any new exercise program.

Don’t limit or make excuses for yourself.  Whatever your weaknesses are, you’ve got to fight to improve yourself.  It may not be easy but it’ll make you stronger and better.  I’m constantly trying to improve myself and I can never learn too much.  It doesn’t matter how long it takes, life is an evolution and I believe that we can always be better.  I’m truly confident that you can do anything if you put your mind into it.  I challenge you to challenge yourself by overcoming your weaknesses – mentally and physically.

Liquid Diets

Question from P.N. – “I am thinking of going on a liquid diet for a week to jump-start my weight loss program. What's your take on a liquid diet?”

It’s great to want to jump-start your weight loss plan.  However, there are advantages as well as disadvantage with liquid diets.  In my opinion, it’s fine to replace 1 meal a day with an all-natural fruit/vegetable juice or a smoothie.  But it has to be the kind you put in the blender or juicer and not the kind of juice you buy in the store.  You have to be careful, many fruit drinks are labeled “healthy” but there is fructose in a lot of them.

I’m not a big fan of supplements but a protein powder or shake can be another alternative if you want to replace a meal.

Although liquid diets will result in a faster weight loss, my main concern is protein deficiency.  Liquid diets are also less than 1000 calories per day, which will slow down your metabolism to conserve energy.  In turn, you will gain the weight back quickly when you’re off your liquid diet.

I don’t recommend a temporary full on liquid diet (3 or 4 times a day).  However, there’s nothing wrong with replacing 1 meal a day with liquids and eat 2 regular healthy meals.  You may not lose the weight as fast but your weight loss will be consistent and safe.  I don’t recommend any diets that I consider a temporary fix, it must to be a lifestyle change.

If you want to try a full week of liquid diet, please be aware of the nutritional content and it’s always best to be supervised by a physician to be safe.