Ohhh you know what I’m talking about… many of you have been there. We may not all be blessed with the fortune that Oprah has made but too many of us have felt the yoyo weight loss/weight gain/ sigh weight loss attempt again curse she and many other celebrity icons AND regular joes (like me) have.
Stage 1:
- THE REALIZATION = OMG! What happened to me? Who have I become?
- THE EXCUSE = I don’t have time to take care of myself. I don’t have the money for a personal coach. I had a child/I have children/I work too much or odd shifts or I go to school and then work and then kids and then spouse and then… (insert random personal favorite excuse here)
- THE DECISION = you make the decision to either accept the excuses or embrace the change needed to go onto Stage 2.
Stage 2:
- THE CHANGE = You do what you gotta do.
- THE HABIT = You continue what you did so it becomes a part of your life.
- THE WOW = You notice the improvement and encourage yourself to keep it up
- THE STRUGGLE = (this is optional) You become comfortable in your new habit and begin to allow yourself to slide and break habit every now and then… eventually going back to becoming the person you used to be – aka square one
Many of us have those frighteningly disturbing “before” pictures. You know… the ones that get hidden, deleted, cropped or photoshopped or all of the above. And a few of us have those proud “after” pictures that get framed or become profile pictures for the world to ohhh and awwww about and secretly become jealous over. But studies show that a large percentage of those “after” shots rarely remain in the after position for very long.
A very large percentage of us don’t look like our after pictures for the remainders of our lives. For whatever reason, the optional struggle frequents the majority of the human race who found themselves in Stage 1 to begin with.
Rather than focusing on the “why” and blaming this or that and placing fault on those who struggle, I’m going to turn this around on all of us.
I STRUGGLE. I AM CURRENTLY STRUGGLING.
I have been told to eat this and not that. I have been told to focus on cardio. I’ve been told to focus on weight training. I’ve been told that 20 minutes a day of exercise is all that I need. I’ve been told that I need to set aside 4-6 hours of my weekend to commit to a workout. I should try becoming vegan. I should try this Pre-workout. I should stay away from pre-workouts. I should/shouldn’t use advocare. I shouldn’t use any pills/chemicals/drugs. I shouldn’t eat red meat. I should eat more red meat. I should lean out. I should bulk up. I should do crossfit. I shouldn’t do crossfit. I should focus on sprints at my fastest. I should enjoy the distance at a comfortable pace. My point is that I’ve been told so many contrary things by so many contrary athletes and coaches and THEY ALL WORK. Absolutely none of them were telling me lies or false truths.
See, the root of everything they’ve all told me is simply that they are doing SOMETHING. just go do something, anything – so long as you keep doing something and make it enjoyable and part of your life, you won’t likely have to find yourself giving up and starting all over again.
As for me, I find out this week what the doctor’s results are and how I need to prepare for the future of my workouts. I am prepared mentally for it now.
Because I was out for such a long period of time from my workouts, I have gained weight, lost muscle, lost cardio endurance and lost confidence. The reconstruction of my inner power has been a slow process but has been successful. Successful enough to push through my BEGIN AGAIN stage. No one enjoys yo-yoing. Don’t be a jerk about it. Encourage me and everyone you see struggling. Turn it around and make the struggle extinct for us all.
We can plan to be consistent in our health and fitness programs. But let’s face it… #$%@& happens and sometimes we can’t control outside factors that impact our priorities. Wouldn’t it be lovely to be consistent in our encouragement to each other so we can reach our goals again… together? I hope Oprah succeeds. I hope I do, too. And you as well.
One more week… count down begins! I wonder if my bike misses me as much as I miss it.
RunMyssieRun 