Wait… weight?
Digg! this story.
I took the “weight goals” text off of my sidebar.
Yesterday I added the “fitness tip of the day” tool to my iGoogle home page. Wouldn’t you know that the first tip I saw said something like “Think about how great you will feel when you lose the 10, 20, 30 lbs that you are reaching for.” Something like that.
I was so… just… turned off. And it was at that moment when I really recognized that I’m not doing “this” to lose weight. Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely thrilled that I will (more than likely) drop some lbs in this process… I am! (And I will admit that I find myself slightly discouraged that the # on the scale continues to go UP instead of DOWN after 4 weeks of exercising.) But… I am really happy to say that I’m not in this for the weight loss. Not totally.
I am in it… for me. I want to reach a freakin goal. A hard goal. One no on really believes I’m going to reach. Shoot… I’m Liz… the lazy quitter (no, seriously… I’m good with admitting that now). But… I am so motivated to prove others wrong… and to do something good for myself. Something fun… something with real rewards!
I have never successfully dieted or “lost weight.” I have always lost interest in the “being healthy” goals that I have. I realize now that I need more than one long-term goal of “losing weight and looking good.” Even more than one long-term goal of “completing a triathlon.” I need short-term goals! Ones that are so short I can’t afford to be lazy because I don’t have TIME to be lazy.
I am just excited. Because it’s been a month, and I am still as excited as ever to reach these goals. I really AM going to run a full 5K on Thanksgiving Day… and I am going to run it at a good pace, too. And what’s exciting to me is that it is just the beginning of my big goal: the triathlon. (And hopefully many more triathlons to come.)
And really… it’s not for the weight loss. Because if it was, I would have given up last week after those six donuts.
Oh, and I just want to say… for those of you out there trying to solely lose weight, please don’t think I am judging you. In fact, I admire you… because I don’t have enough motivation to do this just for the weight loss.
But I am very proud of me… I feel like my own mindset is right on track, and I am happy about that!
Photo credit: glamlive
Filed under: Inspiration, Life in Action, Nutrition, Rewards, Weightloss
I’m glad you figured out why you are doing ‘this’! Being a successful dieter means that you aren’t listening to your body, you just do well following other people’s rules. Dieting doesn’t work, but healthy habits do & slow weight loss.
I found just by making small goals, like your 5K to begin with, you learn so much about yourself and slowly you are able to make each goal a little tougher. Then you feel fulfilled because you are continually pushing yourself to the next level, and eventually you’ll surpass your ‘big goal’!
Good luck… you are doing awesome! Sometimes motivation wanes, and other times it’s overflowing!
I think it’s good that you are focusing on doing your triathlon. It’s good to have a goal that inspires you to keep working out.
Three cheers for Liz! You have said rather eloquently in your post what I’ve been trying to explain to myself for YEARS. if I focus on the weight, I am inevitably disappointed and feel worse. What I should be focusing on is things that make me feel BETTER.
Also, when I think if my horseback riding, I have several goals I’m trying to reach, not just one. I should apply that philosphy to my fitness as well. Instead of one goal (weight) focus on many small ones (run a mile in under 9:30, run a 5K, run a 10K, run 4x a week, etc…) Thanks for the epiphany!