WLJ: Real talk

I had a little bit of a gain this week. Actually, I gained what I had lost last week. It's not fun, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. It won't do any good, and, in fact, I think it will actually hurt me more in the long run.

Everyone is motivated in a different way.  When it comes to fitness and weight-loss goals, some people use charts, small rewards or even these cute weight-loss jars (I'm considering doing this, by the way).

I prefer to celebrate my successes and not dwell on my failures. Let's face it.  There will be bad food choices, bad workouts and days when I just don't feel like tracking. That's all part of the journey. I can learn from each of those mistakes, but they won't define me or my weight-loss journey.

Negativity and shame don't work with me. They never have. I used to look at pictures of myself at my heaviest and think -- that's my motivation. But they weren't. My motivation comes in the form of positive mantras and feeling the changes in my body that don't show up on the scale. I may not be all the way to my number goal, but I am in far better shape than I was a year ago.  And a year from now, I'll be in better shape yet.  Even though I am still aiming for a number on the scale, my ultimate goal is just to stay active, strive for better fitness and challenge myself to do things I never thought I could. That's how I measure my success.

Source: healthylivingforyou.tumblr.com via Micah on Pinterest

Weight-loss goal: 40 lbs.
This week's progress: +1.4
Progress to date: -17.8 lbs.
Non-scale victory: I had to skip my workout yesterday after sinus/allergy issues made me dizzy most of the weekend. I really missed working out.  To me, that signals that being active has become a habit and part of my daily life and not something extra. This makes me happy.