Truth is…

I get a ton of emails and questions about staying motivated. This journey has been a long one for me. If I were to tell you I was super motivated the whole time, I’d be a big fat liar. Because the truth is sometimes this journey sucks. The truth is I have days where I just want to quit. Some days I’m motivated with my progress, other days I wonder why I’m not further along in this journey.

The truth is sometimes it seems so much easier to settle for good. The progress I’ve made so far is good. I’m healthier than I’ve ever been, and that’s good. I could leave well enough alone and just coast along the way. But the truth is Good isn’t Good Enough for me. I want to be great. While my previous “end goal” was a weight on the scale, I no longer have an end goal because I always want to be challenged and changing. I was doing “good” and not really gaining back most of the weight I lost. I was “good” at CrossFit. Now I want to be great. I’ve seen just a piece of what I’m capable of. and I want more. But that means letting go of the “good” … the “easy” …. and working as hard as I can to get to great. Who knows if I’ll ever get there, but I’ll be damned if I’m not trying my hardest.

I’m in the 3rd week of my nutrition plan, so I’m feeling the dreaded third week effects. You see, whenever I change up something in my diet I feel awesome the first 2 weeks. I usually lose a crap ton of weight too. Then I just stall out. My body seems to adapt to change pretty easily and just settles in and stays the same. I’ve been more committed and motivated than ever to stick to this schedule because if I’m not losing fat I don’t want to have an “excuse” – I have kept right on my meal plan, eating carefully measured meals every 2-3 hours. I have had a couple of “tastes” of off plan things… a small bite of fried ice cream and a few chips at dinner on friday, a bite of an ice cream sandwich (that didn’t even taste good) and a cookie cake sample grocery shopping on sunday. Other than that I’ve been right on plan. I had the hubs let me weigh myself and I’m holding steady at 189. Not my lowest weight, but I’m feeling stronger than ever. I even set a 44 second PR time on “Grace” (30 Clean & Jerks at 95lbs) after a 400m run! Those are the things that reassure me even though the scale isn’t moving I’m moving in the right direction. Do I want to lose weight? Absolutely! Am I willing to lose strength in the process? Nope. I’ve worked too hard for the muscle I have to give it up just because I want to weigh less. The number on the scale is becoming less and less important. I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t frustrated with that number on the scale. I hate how it seems SO difficult to lose these 15lbs to get me down to 175 (my initial “goal” weight).

It’s times like these I’m thankful for the support system I have. My awesome husband, our amazing CrossFit box, my nutrition coach, and every one of YOU awesome readers remind me why I’m on this journey and encourage me to never quit. You are all rockstars.

What keeps you motivated?