C: Plateau

In the world of geology, a plateau simply means flat terrain but in the fitness world it simply means YOU ARE STUCK! Now that we are rounding out May, I have been feeling S-T-U-C-K! My body does not want to do an hour long once a week workout with my trainer, my body hates the treadmill, none of the classes interest me....uggggg. I took last week off to think about 'why' I was feeling stuck. It has been 4 months since we started this journey and I was just plain 'antsy'! I then realized that many times, when you reach the plateau of a mountain, or a valley, or the top of a building, is when you truly see EVERYTHING! Give me a moment to explain. Let's say you decided to take a hike. You walked along the path and waved to a bird, and swatted a fly. You may have even looked away from the path to see the running stream or the sun glistening through the trees. But when you get to a clearing, a plateau, what do you normally do? You look around to see where you hiked from, see where you can hike to in the future, and see where you destination lies. It gives you hope that through all those steps over the river and through the woods, added up to this very moment. From here you can really 'see' what you were hiking for.

I reached my plateau last week but instead of feeling 'stuck', I opened my eyes and felt grateful for how much I've pushed through over the past few months. I finally embraced that this journey is also a process. A process of daily commitment of staying active and feeding my body quality foods. I remembered that I am my own personal champion...that only I have the choice to stop or go on and only I have the choice of what attitude I will take as I move forward in this journey. And finally, I told myself to not dwell in the negative feelings of 'not seeing results' because I AM seeing results. There is no way to know what size will be your 'goal size' or what weight will be your 'goal' weight until you get there. But being here, in the present, is my 'here' right now; no more excuses.

So...in the end, I called my trainer and said, we need to talk. I now see him twice a week for 1/2 hour sessions (which are amazing!!). He has also agreed to come over once a month to workout with my in our pool so that I can use those exercises on the afternoons in which it is too beautiful to be in the gym. I am off of the treadmill in the mornings and have decided to walk outdoors. I have recommitted to drinking more water. And finally, I decided to go back and re-try the classes (specifically Zumba and Flow which is Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates) but this time I am going in to have fun and not be so hard on myself.

Don't forget to look around you in order to see all the joy!-xoxo C