Tag: goals

Plateaus are a part of the journey.   Plateaus are expected, but they should not last any major length of time, after all, they would be called something much more discerning if they were expected to be lengthy.     

I climbed up on a table-top plateau back in September.    I then leapt over to another table-top, and another and another. It became just an endless row of tabletops with a few low hills but no major hikes or drops in elevation.    Of that, I should be grateful, I haven’t been climbing, but the frustration of not dropping can be daunting. 

What happened?   Body changes?  Environment?   Psychological?    Perhaps all of that.    I got in my own head and lost my motivation.  Not completely, but it’s certainly not where it was a year ago and that is the key to the lack of my recent success.   

I can give excuses.  Justification is a skill I honed years ago while shoveling piles of unhealthy foods into my mouth and claiming one thing or another was the cause of my woes.   The only one I would be fooling is myself, and not very well.     

I know I am to blame.   I start each morning focused.   I do well UNLESS I am not active.   If I am moving around cleaning, doing chores, tending to my flock of birds or simply just walking, I am fine.   A bottle of water or a cup of hot coffee is all that I seem to need.   However, I do not have the type of career that is considered active, and I find myself looking at a computer screen early in the day.   Within the first hour, my stomach growls and I successfully ignore it for about two hours and then I give in.   Because I am weak.   No, that’s just an excuse.   The reason is because I was weak before I ever arrived at work.   I either tossed a bag of grapes into my work bag or I stopped purposely to grab a fruit cup from the local convenience store on my way in.  

So, what really happened?   I happened.   I started feeling really good about what I looked like, and I stumbled.  I let up on myself and quit being so disciplined.  I treated myself one too many times, gave myself a “break” too often and now here I am.   I feel the pressure from myself to keep trying.  I’m not at the goal I’ve set and until I reach that goal, I have to keep pushing.    

My eating habits are a little skewed right now.   I have been portioning out too much, indulging in the starches and giving in to the sweet tooth.   Talk about the three major roadblocks on getting off the table!   Now that the weather is beginning to move to the warmer side of things. Well, at least some days of the week it is.   I’ll be outside more, which means I’ll be more active.   The days are getting longer which means I’ll be finding things to do to keep busy.   Sitting on the couch when its still daylight feels “lazy” to me and I can’t do lazy.   Not if I want to reach my goal.      

Motivational Plan for the week:   

BE MINDFUL OF MY MEALS 

BE ACTIVE IN THE DAYLIGHT 

DRINK MORE WATER 

I think those are three achievable goals for my week.   I think I need to write down every time I use an excuse for deviating from the plan and what the excuse is.   I find journaling a difficult task because you must be honest and writing it down makes it very real.    

Fourth step for the week:  Journal your Justifications.  

To all on this journey, it’s important to know that with the success also comes the roadblocks, the things that make you want to fall back into the old habits.   You’ve come too far to fall back into the old habits. Stay strong and know that you are amazing, and you have the power to get through!