Refuse to Let Life Get in the Way

So, it's been a few months since my last post. My life got busy with job hunting and other life transitions. I am still trying to regain a sense of rhythm to my life after starting a new job at the end of September. I'm getting there, but it's taking me some time.

Transitional periods, or change in general, can often wreak havoc on our progress towards meeting health and fitness goals. It's easier, during these periods, to fall back into old routines. Rising stress levels trigger cravings for certain comfort foods. Or, we start to rely more heavily on "convenience" foods as we adjust to changes in our schedule. I recognize, for myself, that I tend to become more "near-sighted" during such transitional periods--and my way of catching myself from falling into making less-than-healthy choices during this time is to intentionally make the time to plan ahead. I don't know that anyone has ever "planned" to fall off the wagon; rather, falling off the wagon is more likely to happen when we don't already have other alternative plan in place.

Working out has also been more of a challenge for me lately. My new job is demanding and requires an extreme amount of energy from me each day. My old self would think I need to go home and "rest" after such a challenging day; my new self recognizes that working out is EXACTLY what I need in order to burn off the stress hormones and return to a better state of equilibrium before starting another day. I'm finding the workouts more difficult during this time; yet, at the end of the workout, it is crystal clear to me that this was exactly what I needed. It's a reminder that although it does require work, the results will always follow. The best things in life don't come to us for free!

Something I've been reflecting on during my last few workouts is that my energy and drive seem to be lacking. I'm still putting in the work, but there is a certain spark missing. Two things come up for me as I reflect on this fact. One, I've recognized the need to spend some time considering what my current source of motivation is. To workout with focus, I need to know what I'm focusing on. Has my focus somehow changed in recent months, or have I just momentarily lost a connection with my original focus? These are things I will need to think about. Secondly, it brings up how ESSENTIAL it is that, in order to be successful in working towards our health and fitness goals, we be the authors of our own motivation. It all has to come from within; otherwise, in times like these, everything breaks down if we don't "own" the very source of what drives us. Certainly we can be inspired by others, but we have to personalize our goals and make them our own. I didn't lose weight by following a set of external rules for a given diet or an exercise prescription; rather, I transformed my life by incorporating a whole new perspective on what it means for me to be a healthy human being and then I created a personalized road map for how to reach certain goals. If I hadn't personalized this journey and made it my own, I would have given up long ago.