Personal Sabotage

For so long I have been enduring a weight plateau. It is so discouraging when you're doing everything that you think you can be doing only to step on the scale and see the same number appear week after week after week... On the plus side, at least you're not gaining. On the negative side....what the heck?! I know first hand how frustrating it is to muster enough will power to skip the sweets, limit the indulgences, and count the calories only to feel like it's all for nothing.

I see the skinny moms toting 3 tots, the teenagers who wear baggy size "0" pants, the women my age who don't need to watch what they eat. I'm not saying that ALL of them can eat what they want, skip the work outs, and still look like they do; in fact I know that a lot of them ARE health conscious and DO work out to keep their fa-bu-rockin bodies. Irregardless, I can say that I feel your pain when they're snacking on a bag of chips or ice cream, and we're popping grapes or carrots. I feel your pain when co-workers snack all day on the homemade goodies that we know we can't have. I feel your pain when you take a bite of a cookie and think, "This is going straight to my __________."
I get it. I know. We just don't have THEIR body. We don't have THEIR metabolism. We don't have THEIR life. In short....WE'RE NOT THEM.... Unless you're an identical twin, you don't have them chemical makeup of ANY OTHER human on this Earth. You don't deal with the same stresses, enjoyments, conditions, decisions or commitments that they deal with, so why do we compare ourselves to them? Why do we long to be like them, to look like "them"?

Personal Sabotage

Plain & simple. We are pre-programmed to fail. We (along with a "little" help from society) have it in our heads that to be "normal" we have to be a size 6. We long to be the size we were when we were in High School, before we got married, before we had our kids. We set off on a goal..."I'm going to lose 50 pounds by next month." OK, I know that's an exaggeration, but bear with me here. Why don't we just accept the fact that all things change in life, and as time goes on, our bodies change too.

We set goals in our minds that are strictly cosmetic. Visually acceptable, socially average, and medically normal. It's what I did nearly a year ago...I set out on my goal to lose weight, to be slim and beautiful. Nowhere in my goal did I have the word "healthy". I didn't set out to be healthy, which (when you stop to think about it) is ALL that REALLY matters. It is a common misconception that if you're overweight, you're unhealthy. I am proof that you don't have to be an "average" size to be healthy. I am medically categorized as obese, yet I am physically stronger and have a higher cardio endurance NOW than most (dare I say ALL) of my "normal" sized friends. I work out 5-7 days a week, I eat healthy, and I am maintaining the weight that my body deems right for me at this time. Although I strive to overcome the plateau that seems to be lasting 3,000 miles, I'm no longer driven by the images in every health magazine. I no longer aim to be "normal" or "average" sized, I aim to be healthy...what ever that size or weight may be. It's important to remember that eating right & working out is SO MUCH more benificial to you than simply cosmetic. What's happening on the inside of you is FAR more important than the changes being made on the surface. Remember to commend yourself for passing up that fast-food offer; for substituting skim milk for 2%; even for taking 1/2 a cookie instead of 3. Every little bit helps...every smart decision you make works for you in this incredible battle we face to become healthy. Overcome your desire to sabotage your success...surround yourself with others who also long to make healthy choices, who support your efforts and compliment your results.

You are worth the effort.

You will succeed.

Until tomorrow!

Keep healthy, keep safe and keep going!

Have an awesome day!

©Fit~NOW~Girl©