Tomorrow morning is my anniversary of eating healthy for one long seven day continuous stretch (well, let’s not count Saturday night’s Christmas party where I pigged out on wine, pub cheese and salami rollups). Other than that, it was continuous – I journaled, I ate when I was hungry (only!) and found substitute activities to replace eating.
But even so, I still have this feeling that the end result is so far away that it’s not worth working for. It’s hard to be satisfied with a single step when you know you’re going to be walking for miles and miles.
So when (and how) do you become satisfied with the process? Or do you ever? Is it always one goal down the road? Since I’ve never actually gotten to that goal, I’m damned if I know. I guess I just keep plodding along and hope that something will stick.
It’s that whole question of valuing the process of “going” over the goal of “arriving”. So many of my failed weight loss attempts have been about getting to a number and then quitting. I’m finally seeing that the journey has to have it’s own value and even enjoyment. So I vote for the idea that there’s always something else to work toward – though I’m hoping that it won’t always be weight related!
Not sure if that makes sense. I’ve re-written this comment 4 times trying to get my thoughts straight.
No, it does make sense, Millie – and that’s what I keep sensing and trying to achieve. Remember when we talked about how we all are successful women in every aspect of life except our weight? I think that’s because we enjoy the process and make it work for us. We know what the end result needs to be, but we also know that the journey there is just as important.
I need to get that feeling into my eating/fitness habits. To make the journey a “business challenge,” so to speak and put more effort into the long range process. I’m a lot better about it now than I was 5 years ago – back then, I was still subscribed to the “click” theory. That you can only successfully lose weight when you get that sudden burst of motivation, but the rest of the months (years) go by the wayside. No more…
“I’m a lot better about it now that I was 5 years ago…”
Those words keep me going when I’m frustrated or discouraged. For me it’s 2 years. I wish we could have “before and after” pictures of our brains and emotions around food and not just our bodies.