Monday, November 9, 2009

A Struggle Stretch

At a WW meeting on Saturday, one of the few male members approached me for advice. He's been coming to meetings for over 2 years and has had awesome success. Lately, he has been struggling at the scale. Why? That's the question. What's the answer? Excuses! He told me of how his elliptical stopped working, how he doesn't write everything down anymore like he used to, how he has had to dig in the pile of "big" clothes, etc. I did tell him that I have struggled at times. I'm doing fine right now, even though I'm a tad bit over my goal. He has struggled since June and has gained several pounds. Each time he gains, he tells himself that tomorrow is another day and keeps waiting for tomorrow.

We've all been there. We're only human! Struggles come out of no where to grab us by the neck and keep us in check. A time of struggle is a great time to reanalyze your goals. Do a 1-minute motivation to yourself. What would you like to happen? What needs to happen for this to occur? Will you make this happen?

I started thinking about the reasons why I started losing weight in the first place. What were the biggest reasons? I wanted to be able to keep up with the kiddos. I wanted to be able to make it as long as I could without needing any medications. I wanted to be able to walk up the steps without wheezing when I got to the top. I wanted to be able to fit into a pair of pants that had the same waist size and inseam size. This is just a quick off the top of my head list and I'm sure I could think of at least 10 more things very quickly.

It's all about motivation. Motivation definitely has an ebb and flow process. Sometimes there is nothing that could get in our way, and sometimes there is nothing that we can do that seems to go our way.

I listened to the Mizfit and Dietgirl podcast today and they brought up an important subject: Thankfulness. There are so many things we should be thankful for and so many things we take for granted, a great way to start back on the right track may be to remember this list of "thankfulness."

4 comments:

John's Weight Loss Blog said...

Great reminder, indeed even though I have lots of excuses for why I haven't been doing what I should be doing it really would be helpful to get back to the basics and start with simple thankfulness. I've also done a good job this year with getting a physical, an overdue trip to the dentist and a complete eye exam for the first time in 20 years. Maybe these simple things can help get me back on track. Thanks for the reminder to be thankful.

mrs darling said...

After a year of gaining I am exhausted. I have gained a total of 8 pounds since last January. BUT... at one point this spring I had lost 9 pounds. So you see, Im up 17 from that time. I am just so weary of trying to keep it all together. I know 8 pounds in a year isnt something that I cant undo but why cant I get with the program? Im just so sick of all this. sigh

Becky Fyfe said...

Recently, my weight loss has slowed. It's still moving downward, but much slower than it was.

I know if I cut out the little nibbles here and there and the extra, unplanned-for treats, it would pick up speed again.

But that's the problem when we get much closer to goal; we're not as unhappy with where we are at so the sense of urgency is no longer there.

Yep, I'm taking my time, but I'll get there eventualy! LOL! (I've lost 120.5 lbs and have 17 left to reach my goal.)

TB--Milwaukee said...

John~Hope the simple things work. A bunch of simple things add up after a while.

Mrs. Darling~I know how frustrating it can be. Hang in there and don't give up.

Moonduster~Seems that I do fine during mealtime, it's all the little bites, licks and tastes that get me too. And it is so much more difficult when we're close to goal. So close that I'm comfortable where I'm at and not trying so hard.