One of the biggest hurdles to get past in order to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle is the inevitable setback. You work hard, you stay on track and the moment you are derailed your first instinct is to quit and abandon all that hard work because of one slip up.
I have traveled this road myself. I have hit the plateaus, I have fallen off the wagon and spent days nursing my bruised ego with lots of food and inactivity. What this rollercoaster taught me was that I had to take it easy on myself. I had to let go of my giant expectations and get real with myself. I also had to drop the ego and embrace the effort.
This is when I began to approach my fitness and weight as a competition with myself – not anyone else.
My husband and I are avid runners. I have been running for over a decade and it is my exercise of choice. My passion eventually led us to start a company for runners. So you may conclude that I am an awesome runner. An elite. But I am not. I am, on a good day, average. I was at a trail race recently where I came in second to LAST. The last person was a gentleman in his deep 70’s, and he did not beat my time by much. Although it was a small race, and it was my first trail race, on unfamiliar terrain, I still stunk it up pretty bad but rather than let that sideline me, I keep the experience on the forefront to remind me and to encourage others to STAY IN THE GAME.
Although I will never boast a supermodel figure or be an elite runner, I am immensely happy with the results that my efforts provide me. By being realistic with my goals I do not overwhelm myself and am more likely to remain focused and successful in my efforts.
Make friends with your ego. Do not allow it to stray you away from your sense of humor about yourself as well as your goal to be fit!
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