I know that so many people are looking for a simple way to lose weight. A pill, or therapy, or diet that just makes weight fall off your body with little change to your daily habits. If it were that easy, most of us would be skinny!
The truth is. It's not simple. It is hard. It takes hard work, and discipline. And I guarantee you will experiences bumps along the way.
When I first started, after about 2 weeks of Jillian Michael's circuit training, I started experiencing knee pain. I have suffered from knee issues since I injured my knee in 8th grade. It has kept me from a lot of things. So there I was, trying to exercise... and I'm injured.
But instead of doing what I normally do, which is baby it for a few days and swear off all activity for the next month... I decided to get on my favorite friend Pinterest and find exercises for knee pain. I was able to find a bunch of ways to strengthen the muscles around my knee so that it wouldn't have so much pain.
I didn't quit exercising. I kept doing the circuit training. But I followed the "modified" easier girl on the right and during the lunge routine or other painful knee exercise, I would just practice my knee strengthening exercises instead. And guess what?? My knee pain eventually went away. And I stayed active.
Life is all about making adjustments. And so I had to listen to my body and make adjustments.
About 3 months into my journey I decided I was going to try to take up running. I have always hated running, but figured, maybe I would like it now that I was much more active.
I think I pushed myself a little too hard though. I figured since I was doing 3+ miles on the elliptical, I could do 3 miles of running on the treadmill. Wow was I wrong. About 1.5 miles into it my hip hurt and I had to stop running and walk. I finished my 3 miles, but I was in pain! My sciatic nerve was shooting pain down my leg and up my back. I actually did take about 3 days off of exercise and visited a chiropractor because I was in so much pain. This is not how I wanted to live.
I googled and self diagnosed myself with piriformis syndrome. And the chiropractor thought it was that too and he discovered I have an extra lumbar vertebrae which makes the sway in my back more pronounced... which is probably why my belly pokes out more than the average person, and has all my life. So I may have some structural reasons for my pain.
So I did modified exercises, went back to my friend Mr. Elliptical, and took a lot of ibuprofen. It took about 2 weeks for me to feel ok again. I actually have not ventured back into the running world because I fear the pain I had, and when I do start doing something really active and start to feel my sciatic pain returning I ease up. I just have to listen to my body.
But the point is. Even though I experienced injuries during my journey, I was able to continue being active and exercising. I was able to find a variety of exercises that didn't hurt my knee, or aggravate my piriformis so I was able to stay active.
But physical injuries aren't the only thing that might hold you back from exercising. The mental ones are that much harder.
I know my own struggles included: feeling tired, being busy, anxiety, battling emotional eating, guilt, feeling overwhelmed, frustration, and just plain wanting to give up sometimes. Especially when I hit a weight loss plateau.
Sometimes I would have days where my eating wasn't great. I either ate the "wrong" foods, or ate too many calories, or way way way too much sodium which I knew would result in pounds and pounds of water weight. The guilt would follow. Maybe I couldn't do this?
But then I would remind myself from the words of Miss Scarlett O'Hara... "After all.... tomorrow is another day!" I can always start over tomorrow making good health decisions. Eating good foods, exercising, drinking all my water. That helped me to get over the fact that I sabotaged my diet or didn't exercise when I was going to and forgive myself and start fresh.
It WILL NOT BE EASY. I found myself stumbling and picking myself back up multiple times. But I kept going. The key is to find something that keeps you going. That helps you get through every one of the struggles you face. Because there will be so, so many along the journey.
Mine was a promise. A promise to myself that the reason I was doing this was to be healthier and to feel better. I had to be happy with myself and happy for my progress. I had to find away to forgive myself for my short comings and for my slip ups. I had to re-motivate myself and keep going. But most of all, just knowing I was doing my best, and I was a great person no matter what!
Loving YOU....your body, your mind, and yourself is the best way to get through the bumps.
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