Weight Loss is NO Joke

You walk, you run, you jump, you even kick and punch your way through a tae bo DVD in an effort to lose weight. You drink 25,000 ounces of water a day to flush any impurities from your system and hope plenty of fat will find its way out with all of that water. No sugar, no white flour, so no cookies or cake? Hm, and I'm supposed to survive this weight loss effort HOW?

I have been striving to eat healthier in hopes to feel better, have more energy and ultimately to lose weight. These efforts have served me well but I do have my setbacks. Every month I get those voracious cravings thanks to PMS where I must have salty anything and sweet, chewy candy. So it seems for just ten days out of a month I undo all of the lifestyle changes I worked so hard at. It's mild torture. And I'm supposed to work at this for HOW long??

Since starting in January I have lost enough weight to make my efforts worthwhile, but it's still a long, slow, tedious road. Early on you lose a couple of pounds a week and you're ecstatic, as you continue you "plateau" and lose maybe a pound a week and that's when you start reading anything you can get your eyes on about how to light a fire under your weight loss plan. You wonder day in and day out what you did wrong or what you need to eliminate NOW. I even go as far as to weigh myself every morning and too many times throughout the day. It's insane.

If you're like me, it's at this point when you realize it's time to back off. I become obsessive about the scale's display, then my jeans seem tighter than the last time I wore them and even my BRA seems to hug me more than before. This is when I relax and just eat what I need, make sure I exercise, get plenty of fruits and veggies and then I jump back on the diet-wagon when I'm ready.

Losing weight should be about how you feel, your health, and then how you look. If you go about it with this mindset minor setbacks won't be the end but a way for you to see what needs to be improved or increased. For me it's always exercise, I need to do more when the scale won't move or is moving in the wrong direction. Weight loss has been one of the hardest goals for me to achieve but I'm in it for the long haul. And if I ever get rid of my next 15 pounds I've held on to since carrying Jay, I will treat myself to a huge slice of chocolate cake, I've earned it right? :)