^yeah, I hear you about the winter weather dragging on. We just got a load of snow yesterday and it is still so cold and damp. Grr!
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Uber!! I hear where you are coming from. I was doing the exact same thing and totally off plan for like almost two months. I found that exercising helped reduce the stress of life. Remember your goals, and how great you felt when you were exercising? That is what usually motivated me to keep going.
Perfection is another theme I can relate to. No one is perfect, and to be perfect 24/7 is impossible imo. Just do the best you can everyday, and small steps to have a good day, one day at a time. Remember, YOU are in control. Hugs!
Uber, your plan sounds excellent.
I'm sorry life has been throwing rocks at you recently too, I know how it feels and it's grim.
Have you re-set your ticker? I found the other week that when I was back to a total re-start, re-setting the ticker was actually quite calming, rather than having this added pressure of every time I looked at my posts, the words 'Liar' and 'Failure' were leaping at me!
Uber - I am sorry you've been struggling. I/we all have had these times. You've gotten much good advice. All I can add is... plan, plan, and plan some more.
You've got a good plan.
Every day I write these words in my journal - 'food does not take away stress or pain. Food is not an emergency.'
Thanks so much everybody for chiming in with your words of support.
I'm feeling a lot better today even though unfortunately, I did not make it to the gym to work out. I had to take one of my kids to a nighttime soccer practice and it ate up all of my time.... poor planning. When I'm in the groove, I work around that stuff and prioritize. Foodwise, I was back on track, eating about 1500 calories and did not feel myself getting out of control.
Eliana, you asked why I stopped exercising... it certainly wasn't intentional, and I didn't actually flat out stop one day to the next. One week, I was really tired and felt like I was coming down with something so I skipped a couple of days, then the next week, I remembered how nice it had been to pamper myself and sit on the sofa reading instead of going out into the cold night air... then I went back and ran once, and I didn't feel that great because my cold was still there and I felt kind of wheezy, so I decided to skip again. Then I got kind of paralyzed and thought "oh no! I've abandoned my exercise plan. What if I never get it back???" then of course I didn't.
Lately, I've been feeling the absolute worst kind of pressure. I feel like people are expecting me to be perfect and beyond perfect-- in the way I look and in what I achieve-- and I'm just super overwhelmed.
And Eliana, I have been thinking of training for a 5k-- it is definitely on my to-do list....
I like the idea of committing to a specific period of time, and I'm thinking that the period of time maybe is from now until June 19th. June 19th is a big day in my life. It's the day that I started on this journey, back in 2009. I think it's probably reasonable for me to get back to my all time lowest weight by then-- I'm pretty sure some of the extra 14 pounds is just bloat and water weight....
I'll keep you all posted.
When I first started, a few years ago actually - the first real go-round, I went to the gym every single day no matter what. Even when I was sick, I still went. There were two days I got up, dressed, drove to the gym, walked into the locker room...and turned right around and came home. I was too sick to work out but I had to go because I couldn't have that excuse. I'm better now and no longer have to do that, but I had to make a no-excuse policy for myself. You're no newbie to this, so only you know if you need to be so strict with yourself or not.
I think your June 19th deadline is absolutely perfect.
Quote:
Lately, I've been feeling the absolute worst kind of pressure. I feel like people are expecting me to be perfect and beyond perfect-- in the way I look and in what I achieve-- and I'm just super overwhelmed.
This part I get! But you know all that pressure really is coming entirely from YOU. You are imagining other people putting that pressure on you. I am terribly guilty of this! I've been posting a lot lately about a wedding that I made miserable for myself because of exactly this. As if the wedding was all about me! It wasn't, but I had to be perfect because "everybody expected it of me." No, I expected it of myself. There's a difference. You can't control what others think of you, but you can darn well control what YOU think of yourself! I think this is probably coming from the fact that you let exercise go. Like you said in your first post, your stress levels rise when you aren't working out. Likely you feel imperfect because you aren't at the top of your game anymore. It isn't that others are expecting you to be at the top of your game, but you are and nothing but the top is going to be good enough. The good thing is that maybe if you set a goal and start working toward it you CAN start feeling good about yourself again.
Hey Uber, I was thinking about you the other day. We did the C25K at the same time, so I always felt like we were in this whole thing together even if we don't really "talk".
I'm really glad to see you reaching out. I sort of semi-fell off the wagon over the holidays and I didn't even do that, so you're doing the right thing. I know you'll be successful. And I like what Thighs Be Gone said haha, good vibes indeed!!
Keep fighting girl! 
I was too sick to work out but I had to go because I couldn't have that excuse. I'm better now and no longer have to do that, but I had to make a no-excuse policy for myself. You're no newbie to this, so only you know if you need to be so strict with yourself or not.
No, I expected it of myself. There's a difference. You can't control what others think of you, but you can darn well control what YOU think of yourself! I think this is probably coming from the fact that you let exercise go. Like you said in your first post, your stress levels rise when you aren't working out. Likely you feel imperfect because you aren't at the top of your game anymore. It isn't that others are expecting you to be at the top of your game, but you are and nothing but the top is going to be good enough. The good thing is that maybe if you set a goal and start working toward it you CAN start feeling good about yourself again.
Last time, though!
