Jimmy Moore's '30-In-30' Challenge

How can learning how to golf be like low-carb dieting?

Welcome to another weigh-in day here at The "30-In-30" Low-Carb Weight Loss Challenge. THANK YOU to everyone who encouraged my wife Christine last week as she started down this low-carb lifestyle journey a couple of weeks ago. She's still doing FANTASTIC and your uplifting and positive comments meant so much to her...which in turn meant so much to ME! :)

We all have things in our lives that we have always wanted to do. You know what I mean--activities that you have longed for but have yet to fulfill. For me, that singular activity that I've been meaning to take up for years is golfing.

Yep, I'm a humongous fan of the game of golf and enjoy watching the PGA Tour on television. Some people think the game is too boring to watch, but not me. Watching the best players in the world hit that little white ball around and get it in the hole under treacherous conditions is simply amazing!

But golf is not necessarily a game of might or great physical prowess, which is why it is attractive to men and women of all sorts. That is the allure that causes relatively intelligent men and women to pick up a bag of clubs and give it a go!

Instead, golf is a game of mechanics, repetition, and finesse--all which come with lots and lots of practice. The golf swing is just the opposite of a baseball swing or a bowling motion. Thinking differently takes a major paradigm shift in your head as I am quickly discovering.

I've only been swinging a club for a couple of weeks so far, but I can already see why people give up on this game. When you first start playing golf, you want desperately to score as low as you possibly can. But the reality is you're very lucky if you can break 150 strokes! You're learning the game and it'll get better with time and experience.

It can be extremely hard at times because this game goes against everything your body naturally wants to do. But quitting is not in my vocabulary, so I'm gonna learn this game yet even if I keep slicing that %$@*!&@ ball to the right! :D Wish me luck!

What's this got to do with a low-carb diet?

Think about it for a moment. For so many people, they have long wanted to find a weight loss plan that would help them shed the pounds and improve their health, right? It's the ultimate nirvana for an overweight or obese person to FINALLY learn how to play this dieting game.

They've watched people like me and many others attain tremendous success on the low-carb lifestyle and now they want to learn how to do it for themselves. Virtually ANYONE who wants to apply the principles of low-carb into their life can and will see phenomenal improvements in their weight and health that go beyond their wildest imagination. It doesn't happen overnight, though.

Like golf, the low-carb life is also about mechanics. Keeping your carb intake at 20g daily for the first two weeks, avoiding the sugar, white flour, and starchy foods completely, eating enough fat and protein to ward off hunger, resisting the temptation to cheat spontaneously, taking your supplements, and so much more. You must do all of those things over and over and over again until they become natural to you.

It's a process, a new mindset, a lifestyle change--one that takes lots and lots of practice. The longer you live the low-carb life, the easier and better it gets. I've always heard low-carb living is a marathon, not a sprint--how true that is!

So, does that mean you'll NEVER mess up? Hmmm...

Go back to the golf analogy for a moment. Does the #1 player in the world Tiger Woods ever make a mistake on the golf course? He's very likely the best golfer who has ever played this game. But guess what? The man makes some bad swings, he doesn't win every tournament, and sometimes he even misses the cut (rarely, but it does happen).

GASP! How can this be? If he's THAT good at his game, then shouldn't he be next to perfect? I mean, come on! Ah, therein lies the problem that so many people who start the low-carb lifestyle conveniently pigeonhole themselves into believing.

It's not about perfection, but rather continuing to apply the mechanics of the game that you are constantly learning. After a while, you'll begin to recognize situations that you've been in before and respond accordingly to avoid the mistakes you previously made. That's why this is a LIFESTYLE and not a diet.

Nobody said low-carb living was going to be easy just as golfing isn't easy. But doing both can be enjoyable experiences as long as you remain focused on what is most important. And by all means, HAVE FUN with them because life is too short to be consumed by your supposed failures. Success is just around the corner!

Now, if I can only keep my knees bent, head down, elbows straight, and...BOOM, right down the middle of the fairway, baby! WOO HOO! I just LOVE this game!

What do you think about your low-carb lifestyle? Are the frustrations of the "game" getting to you that you feel like giving up? Or are you committed to applying the basic principles of what you already know to find the success you desire? Share your comments and let me know what you think!

Labels: 30-in-30, challenge, diet, encouragement, golf, lifestyle change, low-carb, motivation, weight loss