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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Lights a little slow, but it's on now


So I know this is only day four of my promise to myself, but guess what... I've learned something already.

In order to get to the future, you have to live in the present.

So common sense and so NOT profound.

Why didn't I know this before? Well it's not that I didn't know it, I just didn't listen to it. I mean the main quote of my blog is "one step at a time..."

When some people start out losing weight (like me), they get into this super-motivated-I-can-do-anything mode especially when the first 5 lbs. are lost because those are always the easiest. They (I) set up goals and picture themselves as what they want to look like at the end of the journey but they forget about the journey itself.

It's like planning a trip. You decide you wanna go to Fitville and you plan all these must-do-activities for when you get there: where to eat, where to stay, what to visit, what to do but without even planning on how to get to Fitville, you'll never get there. Without knowing how you're going to get from your house to the airport, then from the airport to the hotel in Fitville, your goal is already impossible to accomplish.

This is exactly the same thing with weight loss.

It's awesome to know what you want your body to look like and do when you're at the end of the journey (btw, a weight-loss journey never ends... takes you straight to Maintenance Land!) but you also have to know how to get there. Going back to when I started out, I knew what my goal destination was but getting there was going to be the tricky part. I set weekly and monthly goals to help me along the way but that's like only planning the airplane ride then the car ride from the airport to Fitville. What about how to get from my house to the airport?!

The past four days have made me realize that my weekly/monthly goals are way more attainable if I break them down even further... into daily goals.

BRILLIANT!!

It's as simple as telling myself I just need to get through today - eat clean TODAY and get in a good workout TODAY. Don't worry about tomorrow today, worry about tomorrow when it gets here. By breaking down my goals to the smallest amounts possible not only makes the goal seem that much more achievable, but it also lets me see the goal... I mean really see it!

Currently my weight goal is about 20 lbs away. Instead of focusing on the entire 20 lbs. I'll focus on just the next two lbs., then the next two, then the next two and so on and so on. But instead of just focusing on the two lbs. I'll focus on what I need to do to get rid of those two lbs. I'll focus on my workouts each day and break it down even further and focus on pushing myself during the workouts.

Just get through the next 5 minutes of running and when I've done that, I'll focus on the next 5 minutes. If I'm able to really give it my all for each 5 minute increment and just repeat it, my workout will go by in no time and I'll probably have pushed myself harder than normal. It's a win-win situation.

Applying the same idea to my nutrition each day - hell, each meal - and I should kick those 20 lbs. in no time! Amazing it's taken me this long to really realize and apply this to my life.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You got it Annie! You need your long term & your short term goals! I generally set a 6 month long term goal, monthly goals and weekly goals. Daily goal though I think is something I should start doing too! We are both in the same boat with having trouble losing that last bit of weight/fat.

I love the analogy BTW of the fit-ville trip destination! :)

Michelle said...

Love love love this: "eat clean TODAY and get in a good workout TODAY. Don't worry about tomorrow today, worry about tomorrow when it gets here."

I need to do that. RIght now!

Tigerlilly said...

Its amazing when that light goes on, huh! Thanks to this method of just worry about NOW, I have lost another 10 lbs after being at a plateau for months. It really works.

I have 16 lbs left... I hope we see the finish line together!

Lindsay said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lindsay said...

Sorry I removed the last post - typos, opps!

Anyways... I love the philosophy on focusing on the next five minutes when it comes to exercise! I do the SAME THING! When I workout on the elliptical, I will set it for like 20 minutes or something, ocne I am nearing the end of the 20 minutes, I'll be like, "well, I can do another 2 minutes" and I'll arrow up 2 more minutes - once that's up, I do the same thing!

It's SO much easier to focus on getting 2 minutes done than it is to look at the big picture - like 30 or 40 minutes or something. Because I know I can ALWAYS do "JUST" two more minutes. Great philosophy! Good luck!

Unknown said...

Great post and so true !