Patience

Impatience is always what gets me when working toward a goal, especially a health goal. I get so gung-ho and put all of my energy and excitement into something, such as a new workout plan or a new eating plan, excited and confident that the hoped-for weight loss will happen quickly. But it almost never does happen quickly, at least not quickly enough for my taste. I typically get about 2 weeks into the program before my excitement starts to fizzle because I'm seeing little to know change in my weight or body size, and pretty soon I drop it all together, discouraged and disgusted with myself for being so weak.

What I need to remember and really believe is that it really is going to happen, but not quickly and not all at once--at least as long as I'm doing it the right way. The right way means eating in a way that is healthful and sustainable over the long term, not just some temporary trick to lose a quick 10 pounds. I have beat up my body so much over the years that it's going to take time and the proper foods for it to heal and repair itself. I need to remember that when I'm not seeing the number on the scale go down. All of my healthy eating is making a difference, but I won't necessarily see all that's going on inside my body in this process of change and healing, and the scale is not going to show that either.

For the past couple of weeks I have been doing the Insanity workouts, which are, well, insane. I have lost so much fitness over the last year that I'm to the point right now that I sometimes will do just the warm-up, which is about 15 minutes long, then turn it off and be done, having sweated and gotten my heart rate way up just from that. Now to be fair, the warm-up on those is pretty intense. And right now it's enough to give me sore muscles and leave me feeling exhausted. Once again, though, it's about the baby steps. It won't be long before I can do the entire workout and feel good by the end. Or maybe it will be a long time before I get there. But the point is I WILL get there eventually, just as long as I don't give up. I've got to be patient with myself, and if the scale only shows .2 pounds lost, or even that I've gone up since the day before, I need to be okay with that, recognizing that all of that healing is still taking place that I can't yet see. I WILL reach my goal, even if at times it seems I'm making no progress at all. I just can't quit!