Today marks the start of day six in a row of being completely on track. For the past five days, I have worked out every single day (don’t worry – today is a rest day) and have stayed completely on point with eating, sticking just to my daily points. This was after a very indulgent trip to St. Maarten (which I still owe you a recap of, I know), so I have also abstained completely from drinking alcohol since my return and have gotten lots of sleep to top it all off.
So, scale aside, I feel awesome right now.
When I told a friend about how yesterday was day 5 of being on point with eating and working out, he said, “Wow. You must feel great!”
My instinct was to start with the Yeah, Buts.
Yeah, but I was really bad for 6 days in St. Maarten.
Yeah, but a lot of the workouts were pretty short.
Yeah, but I am still nowhere near my goal weight.
Yeah, but I could have eaten a little cleaner.
Yeah, but…
But after typing that into the gchat box and thinking about it for a second, I erased it and instead said, “Yeah, I do feel great!” No buts.
It’s so easy for me to discount the good progress I make because where I am now is not where I want to be or where I was at this time last year. At this time last year, I had just hit my goal weight, become lifetime, and was finding maintenance to be a breeze! One of the times I weighed in during my 6 weeks to Lifetime, I actually had to put my Greek yogurt on the scale with me to make sure I didn’t go below 2 pounds under goal. Imagine that!
Since then, I’ve had a LOT of big changes in my life, most notably transitioning from being in a committed relationship where I lived with the guy, to being single and living on my own. This meant that I’ve had to make a real effort to revamp my social life, and not surprisingly, a lot of that revolves around alcohol. I’ve talked a lot about this struggle before and this is not what I want the topic of the post to be, but learning to be a 20-something single gal has really been tough on my waist line.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned during this journey is I need to focus on where I am NOW and set goals accordingly. It’s too easy to get caught up in where I used to be and to focus on the shortcomings of my journey rather than focusing on the good parts. But, I need to remind myself how far I’ve come and feel good about it.
So, with all buts aside:
- I’ve made exercise a regular part of my life and have continued to workout 4-5 times a week for the entire month of July, even while traveling.
- I still weigh significantly less than I used to when I first started this journey.
- I am a Weight Watchers Leader (and a good one at that!) which had been a long-term goal of mine since stepping through those doors on March 3, 2009.
- I am doing very well professionally and have managed to find a great career path while also getting my health in line.
- I have run four half marathons and 22 road races in total, with two more half marathons on the horizon for later this year and early next!
- I love to cook, which is something I never did before starting Weight Watchers.
- I bring healthy breakfasts and lunches to work 95% of the time.
- I have been completely on point the last five days in a row.
One day at a time. Here’s to day 6!
Share one thing you are proud of about your journey TODAY.
.png)
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
You got this!!!
I’m lacking serious motivation, I start out with the best of intentions then somehow end up eating something I know isn’t the best for me. blah!
Man it’s hard – trust me I get it! At my WW meeting this morning, we talked a lot about the importance of planning and how much of a difference that makes in the week. Even just to have a few things on hand for easy, delicious meals that you know you can turn to. Just a thought! Good luck!!
I have logged my food for the day and have a workout planned. I love the positive tone of this post!
One day at a time! Great job!
GREAT post!! I’m proud that I keep getting back on the horse (so to speak). I may not always have the best workout or best eating day, but I try to learn from them and move on.
That’s the big thing – getting over the mistakes and learning from them. One day, one meal, one workout – those things will not set you back. It’s the big picture!
I woke up and worked out this morning! I’ve just started doing my workouts in the morning rather than after work and I’m enjoying my week days so much more!
That is AWESOME. I’ve been trying to make a valiant effort to do AM workouts and have been pretty successful. Having my nights free during the week makes it worth it!
You have so much to be proud of. You’ve got this! Day 6 is going to be great!
Thanks Ashley! So far, so good!
Great post! I’m with you – I was not good at all on my vacation with food choices but did workout everyday – had a solid week last week and lost a few of the vacation pounds – had a very indulgent weekend and probably put that gain back on. It is just one day at a time I guess, I think and always have thought that summer is the most challenging time of the year – at least for me it is. Here’s to staying on track!
It’s sometimes hard to celebrate the small successes, but we need to embrace them and make a conscious effort to do so!
This post just gave me a real boost! I’ve been struggling this summer because my fiance is on the west coast doing an internship, and I’ve often comforted my loneliness with food. But I’ve been on track for 5 days myself, and it feels great! Thanks for reminding me that it doesn’t need to be a ground-breaking, BIG success every time. The little ones matter just as much!
One quote someone shared on a post where I talked about struggling was this. “If hunger is not the problem, food is not the solution.” I’ve repeated that to myself many times over this past week! We can do this!
Great post Beth! You’ve come so far – and I’m pushing for your continued success in your journey
I just ran my first half marathon and totally jive with this post – thanks for your great words!
Congratulations on your first half, Rachel!!
Glad to have you back Beth!!!
Thanks Patty! Glad to be back!
I like that quote and agree – hunger is so rarely my problem. WE GOT THIS! xo
Ugh me too. But thinking of food as the solution is easy!
It was so wonderful to meet you in person this morning! The WW meeting was great, too — now I’ll just have to work up the nerve to participate
I’ve gained back all the weight I’d lost from about two years ago, so this has definitely been a journey of ups and downs. One thing I’m proud of: I tracked basically every day this past week and managed to snack healthily while avoiding office treats — which is no small feat!
Hi Summer! I’m so glad you came today – it was so nice to put a face to a name! And trust me, we’ve all been there with the weight gain/regain. One step at a time to get back to where you were!
You are such an inspiration Beth. You live a balanced life, and you are a true success story!! I’m proud to be back to gentle workouts after nearly 3 months away while I recovered from foot surgery. It was a longer recovery than I was expecting, but the end is in sight. YAY>
Congrats on getting back to working out Roz! It must feel so good!
i 100% agree with you, Beth! It is so easy to do the yeah, but game when someone asks you how you are doing. I also need to work on just saying that “I’m doing great, I’m sticking to my workouts as planned”. I will say it again, I really admire your blog and how you write about real life and how we all struggle.
I remember one of the exercises that stuck with me the most at a WW meeting when I attended regularly was having to turn to the person next to you and give them a compliment (and then they gave one back). We were simply to reply “Thank you” no buts or downplaying the compliment, and it was SO HARD for everyone in the room. It was so eye opening to see how much we beat ourselves up when others try to celebrate us!
I love this post, because I am so guilty of the same thing! I am really bad at accepting compliments. For example, I recently started teaching Jazzercise again after taking a year off, and when someone told me I looked great, my initial response “Thanks, but I have definitely gained some weight back over the past year.” Ugh, the truth is that I still do look and feel much better than when I weighed 60 pounds more, but all I can seem to focus on is the weight I’ve gained back!
It’s such an easy trap to fall into, but it feels oddly freeing once I realized what I was doing and made a conscious decision to stop. I weighed in this morning and even though I was still up a bit from pre-vacation, I was way down that I was 5 days ago and I just feel GOOD because I know I’ve been treating my body right!
Girl, I coulda wrote this myself. It is SO easy to say, “yeah, but…”
My coworker persuaded me to join Boot Camp w/ her for the month, and I was *this close* to saying, “Yeah but I still weigh xyz…” I stopped myself, signed up, and hopefully I wont die next week when I start going
Keep up the “yeah but” awareness!:)
We are so quick to cover up all of the positives with a big fat negative – think about people you know who can’t take a compliment for example. I’ve learned to just say “thank you,” rather than disagree with a nice compliment (which is not so easy)!
Good for you for changing your “Yeah, but” into something positive. YOU DO need to recognize all of the hard work you’ve done- and that you are NOT the same girl you were before. There’s always room for improvement no matter how skinny, rich, popular, etc. you are- and we will always find something negative about ourselves.
AWESOME on the 6 days of rocking your eats and staying on track with working out!!
Your race feats alone inspire me! You go girl!
I love this post! I will try to think of your wisdom every time I think about my journey in terms of “yeah but”.
Ok, here is my good thing…I worked out as planned every day, and I have been faithful to track all of my food.
Just look at what you have accomplished! It’s so important to keep a positive outlook and remind ourselves of our accomplishments. Just keep on track one day at a time!
I am also following WW, and I have been on track all day plus I worked out as well. After a week’s vacantion, where I indugle way too much, it’s nice to be back on track.
Great post Beth!
Awesome stuff! I am all about quitting the yeah, buts and embracing the achievements. I’m always reminding myself that successes are always more motivating than failures so why dwell on the negative.