There seems to be this amazing attitude all over the internet when someone loses weight. Yes! Congratulations are in order! Big pats on the back for everything you/we/I have accomplished.
The trouble is no one really talks about the fact that the struggle doesn’t end just because you reached that weight loss goal.
For the first time since sharing all about my weight loss journey I’m going to let you in on a secret. Keeping to your weight loss goals is a constant battle.
Getting the weight off is one journey. Keeping it off lasts the rest of your life.
Reaching your weight loss goal is only the beginning.
It took about a year to completely shed 80+ pounds from my petite (read: short) frame. I felt great, had a ton of energy and poured it into fun endeavors. It took almost a year and half to realize that I was tapped out.
The proof was when the scale started climbing North again at a steady pace.
Every time I glance down to see the number creeping up, I would mentally review my meal plans and workouts in the past few weeks. I had exercise tracking at the minimum, so I could look back and see if something had changed.
The numbers were good. Lots of steps, high activity levels.
It wasn’t the amount I was getting, but what I was getting it doing.
I love being a fitness instructor.
At least I did love it. The first part of this year was a wake-up call for my life. I got a great new job that I was in dire need of. Just a few short months later I was laid off from that job, and found another great job.
No worries, right?
For the past several years I had been coaching a boot camp workout several days a week. This was on top of full time work and several side endeavors, like the one you are reading right now. The transition to coaching was a blast, even though it took up the space I had reserved for my own workouts first thing in the morning.
I found ways to work around that with evening workouts and weekend long exercise sessions. Until they needed more help and my evenings and weekends were impacted too.
Too much energy drain started to add up to weeks without a decent workout for myself. Add the insult of eating less than healthy options. Add to that the stress of changing jobs twice in 5 months.. The reality equaled changes my waist line.
Watching the weight loss goals creep up is depressing.
More so when you have in recent memory just how hard it was to get those last pounds off. I know all the best practices, I know how to get back on track, and I know that it was not going to be pretty.
How many excuses run through your head when you are trying to stay motivated and it’s just not happening? These are some of my favorites:
1. My hips are killing me!
When you sit for a living 16 hours a day, lots of body parts hurt. You know what cures most of those pains? Moving and sweating. In short, getting your fit on.
2. I’m just too busy!
Really? Binge watching Netflix to “catch up” is a guilty pleasure of mine. I have caught myself on a tear after putting on “just one episode” and realizing two hours have passed. Thankfully the Netflix interface eventually asks “Are you still watching?”. I wonder if I can set that to pop up sooner?
3. I’m so out of shape!
This is a tough one for me. I used to be able to run a 9 minute mile, get through 30 minutes of high intensity workouts, and bike 15 miles without a thought. Stepping back and taking it down a notch when there’s been a gap in workouts is a hard reality. It feels like starting over from the beginning. It can feel like failure.
Getting over the reality of my weight loss goals took almost 2 weeks.
I got up and hopped on the dreadmill anyway. I started with 15 minutes brisk uphill walk, then 20 minutes a few days later, then 30 with breaks every 5 minutes to throw in some high intensity moves to take my heart rate up a notch. Baby steps.
This is where I am now and I know that it won’t take me long to get back to my endurance a year ago. Don’t get me wrong, I get pissed at myself daily for letting my fitness level slip, no matter the reason.
You have to take care of you.
Where’s are you in your weight loss journey? Heading down, riding the scale roller coaster?
Comment girls so I can support you along the way!
Heather Montgomery
Go get your fit on
[…] If you want to read more about dealing with the scale moving up, read my post this week on Fitness Challenge Online “Weight Loss Goals are Only the Beginning”. […]