There's always a starting line..

When I stand at a starting line there are a lot of emotions attached to that minute before they say "GO!" I feel excited and strong yet anxious and a little afraid I won't finish and I almost always feel like I have to go potty the second before the race starts. It ALWAYS feels good to finish! But the distance between the starting line and finish line can be so long. There's this space between that you have to tell yourself to keep going.. sometimes it's an easy run and sometimes it's challenging. My journey has been like that. I have to remind myself that I'm not racing against anyone else and it's just myself and when I get to the end I'll get there. A few months ago I accomplished a goal to run 100 miles in a month. I felt so proud! The following month I set another goal to run 125 miles in that month and unfortunately I didn't accomplish this goal. When I hit the middle of the month and accepted the fact (or maybe I just gave up) that I wouldn't reach my goal, I stopped running. I am not good at failing. I can beat myself up for a long time. Honestly since then I have ran, but not like I was used too. I made excuses why I "JUST COULDN'T" but they were just excuses. I really believe I hit a patch of feeling disappointed in myself and although I didn't give up entirely, I did allow myself to be stagnant for a while. Why do we do this to ourselves? We beat ourselves up if and when we fail or go backwards. It's as if there's only one starting line. I am finding the truth to be the opposite... there are many starting lines. Each morning can be a fresh start. You can set a goal to stay on track for a whole week and the next Monday you can start a new week... a new starting line. I don't know.. I was thinking maybe if we take the pressure off of ourselves to be perfect for a whole week or a whole month, taking it one day at a time can be more attainable. My pre journey days, I would say, "I'm going to start on Monday" or "I'm going to start Jan 1st" why not start now? Why not let this morning be a starting line and when you go to bed tonight, let that be a finish line and start again tomorrow morning? I have found breaking down my goals into smaller goals helps so much. My manager for Weight Watchers has maintained her weight for over 10 years. She recently told me she still sets weekly goals. There is always a fresh starting line. I decided to stop beating myself up and am going to attack that 125 miles in September. What can you set as a goal for today? For this week? For the month? This is YOUR journey! You get to choose the rules and goals. You get to say where the starting lines and finish lines are. Just because we "mess up" doesn't mean we are failures.. it shows that we are working towards something. I am proud of you for working towards goals. That is the only way you'll move from here to there. Start now and start tomorrow and start again tomorrow afternoon... just keep starting.

The ripple effect

It's really cool that it takes just a small pebble to disrupt a body of water! I do a lot of thinking when I'm running (yes, it's fair to say that since I didn't run much this summer that very little thinking went on ;) ) And the concept of the ripple effect came to mind. It's as simple as this.. there was no way that after my 4 mile, sweaty back, tired legs, heavy breathing self was going to come home and waste my run on a cookie. I am well aware of how many calories I have to burn in order to eat treats. I found this heart breaking chart recently that told me it takes an hour long aerobics to burn off a slice of apple pie, a 2 hr bike ride to burn off 2 slices of meat lovers pizza and a brisk 25 min walk to burn off a muffin. How sad. I know when I do a workout the last thing I want to do waste it on something that will take me 2 minutes to eat. So the ripple effect, when you make a small change it can impact other choices you make during your day. I know for me, just deciding what I'm going to eat for breakfast has a big impact on my day. I love english muffins with peanut butter and jelly on it. It's like dessert for breakfast! I can eat this if I want but it does trigger a sweet tooth throughout my day. If I choose something not as sweet, my day seems to go better. What is a small change you can make that can cause a ripple through your day? Maybe write down what you eat? Go on a walk? Eat a healthier breakfast? It really does work! Of course I always think beyond getting healthy.. any area that you want to see change in your life, start with a small change, a pebble size change. Sometimes we think that we have to change everything all at once, but we don't. Just a small change can set you in motion to make other changes. If you would just set things in motion they will have an effect in other areas of your life. Don't be afraid to drop the pebble. Don't worry about failing. Just think about today and the small change you can make, today! Cheering you on!! Looking forward to hearing about the ripple effects in your life :)

Facing your... cows?

You have no idea how much I love this picture. I met this cow statue on a recent trip to Michigan with my mom and sisters. We walked into a meat shop and I saw this cow standing there in this pose that demanded attention. He definitely got mine! I really wasn't sure how to title this post. You see, I wanted to say "Facing your demons" but it sounds so intense.. RAWR! But that's really what it is. You know those things that seem to call your name when you're doing well. Those things that stop you from staying on track and staying focused. That thing that lures you in the middle of the night that causes you to sneak into the refrigerator when no ones looking. That thing that makes you feel like you can't actually complete what you set out to do. I was thinking about some of my.. cows.. ;) and how facing them was and is the only way to defeat them. I have always wished I was one of "those girls" that when I got sad I could just starve myself. Like I was sooo sad that food just turned my stomach. Not me. I was the total opposite. Food seemed to be my resolve for everything! Sad times happy times bored times.. just anytime! I can remember driving through different drive throughs all alone and buying my favorite foods from the different places and eating the food while I just drove. It's so gross to think about that now. It's actually quite embarassing. I would allow food to comfort me when I felt alone. It would bring that temporary fix but not too long afterwards I would feel terrible about myself and turn right back around and feed that terrible feeling with food. It was an awful cycle! This is why a lifestyle change was the only way I was going to lose weight and keep it off. I needed to make some inside changes in my life. Most of the changes I made were inside changes. Habits had to be broken. Issues had to be dealt with. New habits had to be formed. I had to face the cows that I had allowed to win in my life. My mindset had to change on how I saw myself. Your mind has to be stronger than your body! Your mind has to be stronger than your habits! So what do you do? I think most of us know our habits. We know why we turn to food. There are practical changes you can make like keeping healthy options in your house, going on a walk when you feel that need to eat when you're not hungry kick in, calling a friend.. something to avoid the desire to eat. There might also be issues that you just need to resolve and let go of. Negative relationships in your life, maybe unforgiveness and pain you're holding on to.. whatever it might be. You want a better healthier you, so what do you need to do to get there? Face those "cows" and don't give up until you win! I think sometimes we see the changes on the scale and, yes, those are wonderful feelings!! But to keep the weight off, the habits have to change. My advice, change the habits, face the demons, let go.. whatever you need to do, do it while you're losing weight. Weight doesn't just come in the form of that mushy stuff that covers your body.. it's also that heavy stuff we carry inside of our hearts and minds. Don't quit!! Always cheering you on!!! xoxo