Throughout my life, I've probably lost a million pounds! The problem is that I've lost the same five, ten, or twenty pounds over and over again. Every time I think I'm really getting somewhere on my weight loss journey, someone bum rushes me, hijacks my map, slashes my tires, or just shoves food in my face. The problem is that someone is me. I have literally destroyed my own progress so many times it's unreal. So this time on my journey, I've decided to get real about the things that hold me back and how I will kick them in the face as they try and steal my sunshine.
I'd be willing to bet that almost every woman can relate to the following scenario. You go to get dressed one day and nothing fits. You decided that you should either buy new clothes or go on a diet. You decide that there is no real-life justification for buying new clothes, so you must diet. You go to the store and buy a ton of healthy food, you work out, you debate whether or not you should use social media to hold yourself accountable, you decide to keep your diet a secret so you don't fail publicly, and you keep your nose to grind until the big weigh-in day. *Drumroll*... *Fingers Crossed*... You lost weight! HOORAY! Now it's safe to post your loss on social media. Now it's OK to tell a friend that you lost weight. Now it's OK to eat that cheeseburger you've wanted all week. Wait... what?
This scenario has played out in my life over and over. As soon as I have just a little bit of progress, I am almost just as quickly derailed from my mission. Why? What happens? Usually when I get off track, it's one of the following "weighs":
1. I give myself too much credit for all of my hard work and reward myself with... you guessed it! FOOD!
2. I never make it through my first plateau. You'd think I would have seen enough episodes of Biggest Loser to know that the second week's weigh-in results are AWFUL! And as soon as I have put forth any effort without results, I give up.
3. I have a period, get bloated and gain water weight, and decide that diets are for losers anyway.
So what's a girl to do? Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do differently this time to make sure that I don't self-sabotage. First of all, I'm not rewarding myself with food. Food is fuel. I will remain disciplined and focused on the nutritional value of what I put into my body. Second of all, I am going to commit to making healthy lifestyle changes for the long haul. My current fitness challenge is 12 weeks long. I picked a long challenge because I KNEW that if I committed to 12 weeks, progress would be inevitable. Lastly, I will NOT, I repeat... I will NOT use my regularly scheduled period water weight gain to validate eating my feelings, nor the feelings of an entire third world country.
If you can relate, or you've made some of these mistakes before, then I would like to invite you to cheer me on! This time, I will not "fail." I know that I am worth the effort that it is going to require to finish my journey strong, and I've even decided to put it all out there on social media! My mission is to cheer on as many people as I can along the "weigh." So if you need encouragement, I'll be your cheerleader. What could you accomplish if someone believed in you?
