Turning disappointment into motivation

(Beth)

Most of you read this blog from Facebook, so you're probably familiar with my "weekly lifestyle change update."  On Thursdays I post my results from our weekly weigh in.  But you may have noticed that I don't post every Thursday.  I don't really know why, but some weeks have smaller numbers that I'd like.  It's just a part of the weight loss process, but it's kind of embarrassing posting numbers that start with a one.

During the month of May, I was struggling.  I talked to my health coach about it, because I wasn't going off the plan but my numbers were smaller than I wanted.  We decided that I would just be really mindful of the plan - like remembering to weigh my food instead of eyeballing it and making sure I was drinking lots of water and getting enough sleep.  Well, I had a busy week and I was actually less mindful than usual.  The only thing that changed was my mental state - I had a moment of disappointment and then resolved to win the battle.  The next weigh in I was back to losing three pounds per week.  I'm not an expert, but I think my body was struggling to shed the fat because I was at a point where my body was about to weigh less than it had for a few years.  There was a barrier that had to be crossed and my body was resistant.

The point of sharing this struggle is that sometimes when we're in the process of a lifestyle change we have disappointment in the results.  The important thing is to not give up, and to remember our internal motivation.  Why am I doing this?  If I keep going and push through the barrier, I will eventually achieve the end result - my goal weight.

(Tom)

I wanted to write about turning disappointment into motivation because it's a great tool for life in general.  It is so easy to get down and quit when you don't get the desired results.  I have been on this health journey for about 17 weeks now.  I have lost an incredible 97 pounds in such a short amount of time.  There have been a few weeks, though, where my weight loss was very low and I began to get those feelings of defeat.

During these 17 weeks, I have learned I am not on a diet but on a life-long journey of health.  Instead of letting the disappointment of small numbers get me down, I thought of the ultimate reason of why I am doing this rather than the short term weight loss.  So when those weeks come that I don't lose the amount of weight that I wanted or was expecting, I take that disappointment and I challenge myself to refocus and I become determined to follow the plan I have set out for myself.  This is good advice, not only for weight loss, but for everything in life.  I encourage you to take whatever disappointments you may feel and challenge yourself to not give up but to work harder to achieve your goal no matter what it is.