Always Improving

The thought of always improving used to make me roll my eyes, drop my shoulders and flop my head down on the table. So I have to exercise for the rest of my life?!  (Does this sound like you, too?) Well, this is exactly what I blurted out to my buff boyfriend (now husband) many years ago...man, and I thought losing fat was hard before having kids! ha ha ha!! Oh, my little back-then-self! 😉

Well, my friend, I can say I have made peace with "always improving." In theory, it sounds nice, enlightened and even trendy these days, doesn't it? "Oh, I'm so modern, I'm always improving, always learning, and I love everybody." Ha ha...it's true, though! I love people because every person is like their own little world and I like learning about them. And unless you're a Debbie Downer (or just don't like me), I can have fun with anyone! But back to always improving...

What I realized about the always improving mantra, was that I was making it this giant, burden of a task in my head, that somehow I had to climb that mountain of dropping 30 lbs now, that I had to read that entire book now,  or that I had to go from one extreme to the other now (if that happens to be your personality - changing cold turkey - then great! but, that just doesn't work for most people all of the time).

What did work for me was a mini, mental road map. The 30 lbs of extra fat I had after my second baby, for example, was a MOUNTAIN of a goal! It was even a mountain of fat on my stomach! It stuck out past my boobies (which was easy because my ladies have always been little)! I really, really, REALLY thought it was hopeless and that I would just have to get used to tugging at my clothes as they shifted throughout the day - too tight in some areas, too loose in others, all in the same shirt or pair of pants - because nothing fit right. I looked pregnant even 9 months after my baby was born. You get the idea...

So, because my hopeless goal of losing 30 lbs was hopeless (yes, I said hopeless twice, now again, because that's how I felt), I threw that end goal out of my mind. I told myself NOT to keep my eye on THAT prize because it would only remind me of how hopeless it felt. Instead, I said I was just going to be consistent with my exercise/training regime because "that's what I do." And, I started giving myself little weekly goals that I COULD achieve, and just focused on that. That strategy also took off a lot of the stress and burden I was putting on myself when I would think of long-term goals (my mountains).

Over time, guess what? I reached my "hopeless" goal of losing 30 lbs (okay, it was 27 lbs, but even after, I ended up dropping even more body fat - I've gotten down to LESS body fat than I had in high school and THAT was shocking to me! I was down 34 lbs overall by that point!), and much sooner than I thought was possible. I still can't believe it today. I was always improving, over time. AND I learned more and more about my body, health and nutrition. I even read a book for fun (only that one took a really long time - haha!).

I'm baby-stepping where I need to and running (okay, maybe jogging) in other areas. I even deadlift weighted barbells! How's THAT for learning something new? And guess what? I love deadlifting! I never would have guessed! You barely move and you can drop mad weight while firming up your butt (and did I mention you get strong & lean?). Sure beats the crap out of running! Yes, I know, some people love to run, but I've never been one of them (for my running friends, "I ain't mad at cha, got nothin' but love for ya," ~Tupac). Most of that was besides the point...back to it...

Now, to me, always improving just means a little tweak in the right direction. And then another tweak when you're ready, and so on. No big, stress burden, no hating the journey along the way. It's the small things that make the big picture.  🙂

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