Motivation…

Well I am half way through the first 12 weeks of my journey!  How are you doing with motivation?  If you are like me the motivation is fizzling out about this time and you may have noticed with my articles.  I get a little less enthusiastic…the pep is mellowing.  Maybe you haven’t noticed because you are in the same zone.  You know; you start off with good weight loss and the scales really seem to be moving, you are thinking YES! This time it is going to work and then is slows down a bit, then maybe even goes the wrong way for a couple of weeks, then even when it starts going in the right direction again it is just budging…barely.  You can’t help but get discouraged and start making excuses as to why it is what it is.  Truth is… IT IS WHAT IT IS.  This is kind of a point of either success or fail for me.  Sadly enough I have been on enough diets to recognize this point, I am sure I am not alone.  Thank god this time is a journey not a diet so fail is not an option, right?  So this time and I would assume each time that I have had success I am going to use this as a transition or a time to reevaluate my path to a healthier me.  So my original goal was a loss of 16 pounds in 12 weeks.  We are 6 or 7 weeks in and I am down 8 pounds! Yeah that means I am right on track although I had hoped to be a little ahead because from past experience it seems the less you have to loose the harder it is and I was hoping to have a little cushion.  How ironic I was hoping for cushion on my quest to loose my cushion?  Yep I will admit I just laughed at that thought too. J Anyway…(I get side tracked so easy) back to evaluation.  My weight seems to be right on track but I am loosing a bit of interest or stalling a bit so what goals can I make or steps can I take to re-light my fire?  Well for one I am going to change up my workouts.  I have a Cardio Kickboxing class coming up which I am very excited about.  This will change it up because I will be getting more cardio; lately my workouts have been pretty even with cardio and strength.  I could be a little more consistent with my food tracking, so far I really like the new calorie counter I am using (www.myfitnesspal.com) seems to be easier to use.  I have had a few more frequent “slips” lately, a few trips to my mother in laws (too bad she doesn’t burn everything or is just a bad cook she has to be really good at it).  I do get some reminders – “What’s the article about this week?” as I shove a cookie in my mouth… moments like those I wonder what I was thinking making this journey a public one. J Truth is it has probably kept me more honest with myself. 

I am going to change up my workouts, what are you going to do to be sure you keep on the right path?  It is always good to examine the processes you are using to get to your goals no matter what your goals.  Also a good tip is to make a series of smaller goals to accomplish on the way to the big one.  This gives you a since of accomplishment along the way.  I am close to the 10# mark I should reach it in 1-2 weeks.  And actually reevaluating made me realize that I am half way there.  I had not really tallied my weekly losses; that helps with the motivation.  Another thing that helps is to encourage a friend on the journey.  Sometimes just knowing you are not alone makes the world of difference and in the process of encouraging them you encourage yourself too.  Ok friends that’s it for this week if you are looking for some encouragement or suggestions feel free to stop in and visit I would be happy to help you out.  Have a great week!