Slow and Steady Wins the Race

            My fitness journey has been a long one to say the least.  I’ve learned a lot over my journey and though at times I get frustrated and feel like I haven’t been making progress, I have to focus on how far I’ve come.  One of the most important things that I have learned is to be proud – be proud of myself, be proud of my accomplishments so far and be proud of my body.  I know that I still have a long way to go both physically and mentally but I am working on seeing the positives instead of negatives in regards to my body.  I know that I will never be tinsy-tiny; I will never be model skinny; that is not the way that my body is built. I am okay with that now.  At the beginning of my journey I just wanted to be skinny, I wanted to be small and I had the completely wrong ideas about how my body would be.  Now, I want to focus more on toning up while also losing fat.

            Even though I am not currently seeing the progress that I want to, I am still around 20 lbs below my highest weight.  I went from being a size 16 to now fitting into a size 10.  I still look at myself and feel that I am big and I see all of the things that I still need to improve.  I need to remember that there was a time I would’ve been ecstatic to be a size 10. 

Here are some of my small goals to help me get to my ultimate goal:

1.     Control my eating.  I am all about everything in moderation but the key word is moderation. It is also important for me to not use food as a reward - that is not a mindset that I want to have.
2.     Establish and stick to a workout routine.  I am currently doing the Bikini Body Guide (still) and I will probably go through it again when I complete it.  I miss going to yoga and pilates and weight training so I am going to work on incorporating everything back into my routine.
3.     Find positives and things I like about my body.
4.     Focus on toning instead of the numbers on the scale.
5.   Not let thoughts about my weight and the food I am eating control my life - I want to enjoy everything during this journey.

My goals are still weight loss related but I want to learn to be happy and be confident during all of the stages at this progress.  I do not want to hate my body at any point and I no longer want to be cruel to myself.

I know that the working out that I am planning for myself seems like a lot but I have come to genuinely enjoy working out.  Working out is a major stress relief for me and I will go to the gym if I am upset or angry to get my aggression out and let the endorphins kick in.  My best advice for working out is to find something you love, it is important to start small and work your way up and to stick with it.  If you aren’t used to working out, it can or will be miserable in the beginning but if you stick with it you will notice progress – you will notice that it becomes bearable and you may even begin to enjoy it.

In the comments below let me know your goals! If you are interested in more fitness posts I have a tumblr and instagram: both blacktsskinnyjeans where I post most of my fitness related tidbits.