The other day I was thinking about all the times when I trained hard, ate well, was not consistent, yet did not produce the results I wanted. It was so frustrating not seeing the physical results of the hard work week after week. Yes, I saw some results, but not enough to make me happy. Last July 2009 when I decided to make some significant changes I noticed that my body did not need as much food as I once consumed when I was in my twenties and thirties. It was discouraging. I loved to eat and certainly wanted to eat more than my body needed. The problem was that I was not able to see the changes I wanted. Part of the problem was quantity and the other part of the problem was the types of foods I consumed.
As I made changes slowly both to my diet and exercise program the fat came off. Then there was a plateau. The plateau lasted a long time. I wasn't making the necessary changes in my diet so my body had no desire to drop the fat. Muscle was growing, so the scale would pretty much stay the same. Changes finally happened again when I really focused on the problem.
I also had some good excuses why I couldn't lose more weight. I blamed that fatty pouch area between the belly button and the bikini line on the fact that I was older now, I had two children, and "my body is just different now". I also made the excuse that my legs would never look good, because they are the worst part of my body, and no matter how hard I tried, I just knew that they would never look good.
With that said, and at 110.5 I realize that there was really nothing keeping me from losing more weight other than my own lack of determination and commitment. I was taking a shower this afternoon, soaping up my midsection, and the entire stomach is completely flat. There is no pouch. But you should have seen it before! My legs are still not "perfect", but I they have taken shape and are so much less fatty. It's quite remarkable how stubborn my mind was about not wanting to believe I could change that much.
While diet and exercise are necessary, the biggest obstacle was more in my head than in any of those places. Being truly open to change and embracing the obstacles has been very important to the transformation process.
I have 3 weeks to go until my competition. I would like to just cave in right now and have some food. But honestly I'm not hungry right now, I ate well today, and in a few hours all of these feelings will pass too. I'll get into some p.j's, curl up in bed, watch some television, take a few deep breaths, and it will all be okay.
Train Hard...Train Smart! that's what Paul Daniels from www.bodywarehouse.com always says.
Thank you Paul!
RsmKettleGirl@gmail.com
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