Worst advice I ever recieved from a trainer?..."Keep your eyes on the prize!"

"Keep your eye on the prize!"

Here's the thing, the prize never came! Oh, I'd get close...maybe even hit it a time or two. But it was so short lived I didn't get the satisfaction of getting to my prize! It wasn't until I slowed down and experienced the journey that things really started to happen for me.

Remember the vinyl days? You'd put a record on and play your favorite song and then it would skip in the middle of your favorite part. What happened when you put the needle back to the beginning to try it again? It would skip again! Well, for me, keeping my eye on the prize worked the same way. I'd buy a journal and begin logging as I started my weight loss plan. Something would happen and I'd fall off track. When I was ready to get back on track, I'd buy a new journal and restart my goals. I'd just put the needle back to the beginning and try again. Now, maybe it's just me...I could be a really slow learner and you guys are just shaking your heads in shame, but I suspect many can relate to what I'm saying....I hope. It never dawned on me to continue journaling through that time of recklessness and learn from it. To continue to count my calories while I was eating all the things I knew I shouldn't,to learn just what damage I was doing. To even go to the gym after eating that poorly because, let's face it, the damage was already done. Nope! I would just put the needle back to the beginning and play it again Sam! I can't even tell you how many old journals I have with only 3-4 weeks logged in them...."Eye on the prize?"....Nope that didn't work for me.

Here is what

did!

PHASE 1:

I committed to keeping a journal and counting calories even during those times where I had fallen off track. That was goal number one. Even if I failed at my exercise and food goals, I would continue counting, journaling, and learning about myself. I stayed in this phase until really had it solidified......Solidify......I like that word. It goes hand and hand with success! Before, (with me eye on the prize) I never gave anything time to solidify. To sink in and become second nature. I would do it all at once, overwhelming myself until I gave up. This was my only goal until I got it. Once I got it, I'd move onto the next.

PHASE 2:

Still recording, it was time to perfect calories in vs. calories out. I used Calorie King at the time and recorded every calorie I ate and subtracted calories burned in a workout until my numbers were consistently where I wanted them. I stayed in this phase for a long time! In this phase I would add challenges like, decreasing my lattes to two a week instead of 5, going out to dinner 1-2 times a week instead of 3-4.

PHASE 3:

I added light weight lifting to my exercise plan. This was hard because that meant more time in the gym, and money for a trainer. The trainer didn't work well for me (a whole other blog) so I learned by reading machines and following directions along with taking what I learned in classes and applying them to the weight floor. I stayed in this phase for about a year with great success. Weight loss was occurring! Body comp was changing.

PHASE 4:

I started scrutinizing the things I ate. Thanks to my son, I gave up fast food completely, with the exception of Subway and occasional (healthier) pizza. No more burger joints, or Taco Bells for me. I split meals with my husband when we ate out at restaurants. I added more fruit and vegies to my diet. I was feeling healthier...less weighed down.

PHASE 5:

"GO BIG OR GO HOME!" After seeing some new muscles and some definition, I began my love affair with heavy weights. I created a weight lifting split for myself (being a fitness instructor made this easier but I still had to do some research). I had a 3 day split and worked 2 muscle groups, plus one core focus each of the 3 days. WOW!! BINGO!! Whomp! THERE IT IS!! This set the gears in motion for phase 6 and really changed the way I thought about food!! When a friend gives you something so special, it is life changing, it makes you want to give back! My body was that friend! (Yeah I know...CHEESY!!)

PHASE 6:

Thank you Tosca Reno!! I bought her book, "The Eat Clean Diet" and read it cover to cover. Phase 6 took a long time!! I took one meal at a time and made it clean. I started with snacks. no more crackers and single serving size chips. I ate raw almonds, apples, Greek yogurt,and hard egg whites. Once that became second nature, I attacked my lunches! No more lean cuisines and creamy canned soups! I packed fresh salads, salmon, quinoa, and wheat pastas. Everything was balanced with a proper amount of carbs and proteins! (I will blog more on this phase again in a later post). My next meal was breakfast. Oatmeal and Kashi, and egg whites with vegies replaced quick sugary cereals. And finally dinners. Phase 6 was the most challenging, rewarding, life changing phase of all, but it took phases 1-5 to get here! I was the worst junk food/sugar addict I'd ever known. This phase not only had the obvious health effects of fueling my body with clean foods (more blogging to come on this one), but also forever changed my relationship with myself! And changed my relationship with food. I am still in phase 6 and feeling great about phase 7 which is acquiring more balance through beginning my yoga journey.

Through out all of these phases, I had to linger in the journey of one. Each phase had to become a way of life...second nature, before I could really move on to the next. I couldn't think about a size 6....I had to think about a healthy mind and body. It was happening. I didn't need my eye on the prize (size 6) I needed my eye on the journey of healthy living.

So many ask me how I got here. When you look at me, I don't want you to see a size 6, muscular, fit, body. I want you to see my journey of healthy living. It is on going, always learning, adjusting, and improving. I am not done. I will never be done. I don't want the size __, or 0% fat body comp. I want a strong, healthy mind and body. That is my life long journey, not my neatly wrapped size __ prize.

Now,"put the needle on the record....and dance!!" When it skips, fix it, solidify it, make it second nature...and then move onto the next song!=]
THE PRIZE ISN'T IN THE SIZE, IT'S IN THE JOURNEY!