FALLING OFF AND GETTING BACK UP

• By loramarie03
• 28 June, 2012
• 10 Comments

I am starting to go crazy!

I don’t do well with consecutive rest days. It makes me antsy, and gets to me mentally as well. For me, running is as much of a way to keep me fit physically as well as it is mentally. I feel sluggish and down on myself without having an opportunity to run.

I just have to remind myself that it isn’t forever. Tomorrow I am planning on hitting the roads again for a quick run just to see how it feels. And I can’t wait.

It is kind of ironic to me, when I think about this, because I haven’t always loved exercise. Yes, it’s true. When I was younger, I was kind of lazy. I would find short cuts to do stuff and avoid anything that required more work. In middle school (before I found my love affair with running), my friend and I would try to twist our ankles so we didn’t have to participate. No, I’m not kidding.

And then I realized the only person I was hurting was myself.

This is the same story when it comes to eating. It took me awhile — up until about a year and a half ago — to be honest with myself about what I was eating, even when I was tracking calories.

“Oh, that doesn’t count because I didn’t count the extra 5 minutes that I walked today…” or “well, I’m pretty sure that was ONLY 1/2 cup and not 3/4 cup of juice.” Whatever the excuse was, it flew out of my mouth and I told myself to believe it.

I didn’t realize that I was only hurting myself until the scale wasn’t moving. I don’t know what was a worse feeling, seeing that I wasn’t reaching my health goals or knowing that it was because of ME why I couldn’t meet those goals.

So, how do you quit lying to yourself? It takes willpower. It takes determination. And, it takes a WANT to be healthy and a WANT to love yourself. I still justify some of my bad eating addictions (um, the whole soda thing? I promise I’m working on it.) but it’s better than it was before. I’m more conscious about what I eat and I’m less likely to lie to myself. And, my body has showed me that it’s paying off. I’ve shaved off three pounds in the past month or so, and I feel GREAT. I’ve fit into shirts that used to be slightly awkward and tight to wear. And now, that WANT to meet my goals is burning even brighter… I will meet those goals and I will be the healthiest me I can be.

Have you always lived a healthy lifestyle? What do you think is the best reward for living healthy?