What to do when you fall off the wagon again

When I first started my journey to fitness I had about 40 pounds to lose and lots of soul searching to do. I have came very close to my goal but never quite got there. Life and weight gain are what happens when you are not paying attention. I have been on a steady gain for about the past three months. I think that after my certification I felt like all of my hard work had come to an end so to speak. Trying to gain clients, keep up with family and a car accident got the better of me. I let myself fall off of the fitness wagon and spiral out of control. As someone who wants to make a living in the fitness industry this was pretty devastating to my ego. Every day would come and go with unspoken promises to hit the gym and eat my vegetables. Eventually I came to the realization that trainer or not I am just like anybody else who struggles with weight issues. The old adage “You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink” rings true. It would not matter if I had a masters degree in exercise physiology, if I am not living it I can’t preach it. I am going to bare it all in a challenge to help motivate myself and anyone reading this. Starting today I will do what I expect my clients to do. I will succeed and prove once again that it is possible to pull yourself back up onto your wagon and keep going. This is sort of a retake of my blog. I want to stress that people will fall, just get back up. One meal, one workout, one healthy thought, this is fitness for real people. I want to add that it has got to be one of the hardest things to accept. When we have achieved a weight loss and/or fitness goal and gain it back or stop exercising it is the ultimate form of self betrayal. I have wanted to bury my head under a rock Am I alone in this? Not at all. As a women I have a sisterhood with all who have or will do the same thing. We can break this miserable self sabotage and achieve lifetime goals. Living the healthy lifestyle starts with our thoughts. Getting to a place of acceptance and a desire for change must happen first. Okay so we really messed up and went off track, if we immediately shift our focus to staying committed and getting on course then we will leave no room for negative consequences. We are creatures of habit good or bad. Get in the habit of picking yourself up the moment you fall.

Okay now for the rules of the challenge. I will track my progress for 12 weeks and eat as close to a Paleo diet as possible.

Rule number one: Weekly weight and measure check in. This will not be easy. What is out of sight is out of MIND!

Rule number two: Food diary, this is very important! The diary aspect of this challenge will keep me focused on achieving a level of nutritional value and hold my lips accountable.

Rule number three: Chart my exercise program as I would for any client. Keeping record of how and when you exercise is a great way to track progress and set goals. I love to feel the burn as they say however if you spend too much time away from exercise it becomes habit to sit on the couch. “Energy begets Energy”

Rule number four: Entertainment must come in the form of activity, not the television. I am going to turn off the television set for 12 weeks, this will be one of the hardest rules to follow. I am without a doubt a T.V. junkie

I challenge all who reads this to join me, feel free to send me your progress. I would love to hear your story.