On weight loss goals
Weight loss is such a rollercoaster for me. Only rather than going up and down, I just go down, plateau, wait, go down a bit more, stall out again... You know, when I'm looking at fitness and workout stuff on Pinterest, or reading one of my fitness magazines, or playing around on SparkPeople or MyFitnessPal, I get motivated, inspired, and, I guess, envious of the hot, fit bodies that I see, the cute outfits, the toned legs and buns and stuff. And I want to be that person, those people. I feel like I am that girl on the inside, because I was, but I'm not yet back to being that person on the outside. And while I've made some really great progress, it's that yo-yo again -- do really good, feel great about myself, allow myself to back-slide for a week or so before starting to feel kinda gross and getting back on the wagon again. And it's frustrating because if I could keep a steady pace going, I could reach my goals so much faster. I want to lose another 20 pounds, and really, 15 would get me back to where I was before I got pregnant. In a perfect world, I would LOVE to lose 30, and hit what was always my goal of 150 pounds. But even just getting back to pre-baby would be awesome.
Now, if you go with the lowest number in that scenario, 15 pounds -- if I worked hard, paid attention to what I was eating, stayed active, and stayed motivated, I could reach that goal in 8 weeks. That's two months. Two. Months. I mean really, two months goes by like nothing when I'm NOT trying to keep track of it. Two months is nothing! And I have Erica at work as a GREAT support system, she is so motivated and on top of it that I have no excuse not to eat right and exercise around her. In fact, I find myself sneaking treats and coming up with excuses as to why I can't hit the gym that day, like she's my teacher or something, because I don't want her to wag her finger at me. So it's not like I don't have support.
And I like the word "motivated" as opposed to like, dedicated or focused or whatever. Those other words each have this hidden negative, because not being dedicated, losing focus, makes you feel like a failure, like you've done something bad. But losing motivation, hey, that just means you've hit a snag, and you need to get those good feelings back again. And nothing propels weight loss and fitness success like focusing on good feelings, on that pay off that you're working towards. So I think I will start trying to use motivated as the word to describe my feelings towards exercise. Motivation is easy to fix. Telling yourself you lack dedication or that you lost focus is like telling yourself that you suck, and that's a sure way to land my butt on the couch instead of up and working out.