Stick With It!

When it comes to losing weight and making a lifestyle change, it can occasionally get discouraging or mundane or like you are doing the same thing day in, day out, week after week, month after month.  Maybe you are feeling better and seeing changes and maybe you aren't, but the one thing I can say is to just....STICK WITH IT! 

I know it can be easy to want to give up and not go on if your body doesn't respond and perform the way you want it to. I went through this several times. My body would do well for a period of time and then decide to fight me a bit. It can be frustrating but in my own way I have come to realize that really, my body was just wanting to see how hard I was going to work, how dedicated I was, and if I mentally had what it took to push through the wall of a 2 or 3 week no-progress phase and keep going. It's like my body needed to be tested to see if I was up for the challenge. In every instance (and believe me, when you have a lot of weight to lose and what seems like a long road ahead) when I would just believe in myself a little bit more than the day before and continue to press forward, without fail, I always came off the plateau feeling like I had conquered yet another hard aspect of making it a lifestyle change that was going to last forever. Each time I would bump up against those type of walls in the future, it made it all that much easier to make it over the hump. 

The other area of concern that I have seen or been asked about is if after losing say half or 3/4 the amount of weight I was working on losing, did I feel like I wanted to relax a bit more? Give myself a little more slack per say. Nope, for me that has never been an issue. I, personally, am a very driven person and so once my mind was set and I had decided to do this, I was in 100%. Whatever it took, I was going to do it and do it right. I had worked too hard and learned too many wonderful strategies to want to allow myself anything less than the best. I felt like I deserved that. My body and mind deserved that.  The same applies for anyone asking themselves those questions too. Your body deserves you at 100%.

If you have a long way to go like I did, it will take time to reprogram the brain that this is a forever thing, not just a temporary fix to get you to your goal and then it's back to your old ways. That type of thinking will never work. It never worked for me and trust me, I know and attempted it several times before getting it right. What I do know is that even though it's hard, and sometimes we feel inadequate, drained, and like we can't go any further and just need a break, even for a week or two....Just. Keep. Going! Stick with it! What we decide to do with our actions and what we tell the brain we can and can't do weighs heavy on our success in the end. I know it's sometimes easier said than done, but in the end, I know you can stick with it and do it. You are much stronger than you think. 

Here's to a great weekend ahead for all of us!