No Timeline

I occasionally listen to the podcast Half Size Me. This is a great podcast (available through ITunes or Stitcher Radio) dealing with various weight loss stories, maintenance, and different exercise. If you like strength training or kettlebells, you definitely want to check her out.

Anyway, I was listening and they mentioned reaching goals by certain deadlines. People need to understand that this is not a race. You are not the hare and you do not get $200 for passing GO. To truly change your body and health, you need to make changes that are for the long term. This means you keep exercising and choosing the healthier options even when the scale doesn't move! I've hit various periods where it took a long time to get past a certain weight (175 was a tough one for me for example). BUT I kept going! I don't ever want to go back to the person who struggled to move, to get out of bed, who had issues that people in their eighties experience! (That's a whole other post).

I've never given up foods that I like or continued exercise that I don't want to do forever. Yes this means that my weight loss is slower, but guess what, I've never felt deprived, I won't gain a whole bunch of weight back when I go off a plan (since I don't have one), and I'll be able to maintain my weight loss.  Through counting calories and really watching my portions, I've been able to eat the food I like. Over time though the food that I like has developed into healthier options and I can't stand half the food I used to stuff down my throat.

 My point is that even if  your weight loss or reaching your fitness goals takes years, what does it matter? As long as you continue to be healthy and live an active life, then you haven't wasted your time, you've bettered yourself! When you get frustrated with the scale or you feel like you're not losing weight fast enough, remember to continue down the path to health and your body will catch up.

If you need even more motivation, I was included in Runs for Cookies' Blog for Motivational Monday. She always posts people's accomplishments on Monday's and they are very inspiring! Make sure to check out her blog, it's one of my favorites.

Always being healthy isn't always easy, but to ignore your health is not an option. It's either live with the pain of obesity and being sedentary and pay those consequences. OR get up and move and push through the temporary pain of exercise so that you can live a life full of experiences and new limits.