Rewind...What Stage Are YOU In???
We have lots of new girls here at PNP since we opened the doors for new business again and that means we have people in lots of stages along the fat loss journey. Let's refresh our memories from an old post of mine that many of you loved.
When you are losing fat you will go through stages. How you handle yourself during these stages will dictate how successful you are at achieving your goal.
Stage One - Blind Excitement…this is where you are stoked and ready to go. You finally hit the place where you know you have to do something with your life, found a plan that is for you, got your stuff, and been to the store/signed up at the gym. Everything is shiny and new and you are ready to go! This stage lasts about 1-3 weeks.
Stage Two - Reality Zone…here we are, grumpy from caloric deficit, tired from excrutiating workouts, hormonal most of the time, temptations all around us, and our minds are doubting what the heck we are doing to ourselves. Often in this stage you haven’t seen much happen on the scale and you are a far enough from your last measurement day/weigh in day that the excitement is gone.
Stage Three - Gaining Momentum…in this stage you know what to eat, you are pretty faithful to the exercise program, you have a few questions as you learn more and more about exercise and eating right, but you just need a little push and shove along the way. You still have questions, but you pretty much know what you are doing and can get yourself through crisis and such without too much help.
Stage Four - Cruise Control…here you are, super confident, you know what you are doing, you get your schedule and go for it without hesistation, you eat well, you enjoy your spluge meals without problems, and you find yourself cheerleading others more
than yourself these days. This is the stage we all dream of getting to.
The funny thing about these stages is that they are completely fluid. Everyone moves from one stage to another, forward and backward through the entire journey of fat loss. You don’t skip stages on your way up or down, you might move very quickly, but you don’t skip one.
The last time I made this post I was in Stage One as I was just starting to lift heavy and build out my body. What stage do you think I'm in now??? I'm a STAGE TWO!!! Believe it or not, your fearless leader is in Stage Two...reality zone. Why? It's simple:
- PNP is nuts these days so I work a lot on it. I love the challenge but it's hard to shut my mind to it.
- I'm training very heavy these days and my body is pretty much sore six days a week. As the week goes on, more and more body parts hurt.
- My food is hard to get situtated. I'm struggling with finding a balance between eating more than I need to build muscle but not so much that I'm slapping on lots of fat. I tend to err on the side of not enough fuel for the old fat girl thinking takes over.
- I'm training for a half marathon and my legs feel like poo.
- General life is getting me but I will survive as I have faith that I will be given nothing I can't handle.
My plan for Stage Two is quite simple and this is advice you can all use when you hit this stage. You make plans and you follow them. This is exactly when you don't allow yourself to think about the exercise or the eating. Focus on it when you are in the stages that leave you feeling strong. Stage Two you make the plans you know you should be doing and then you just look at your paper and do what it says. No if's, and's, or but's about it. It's when we get to thinking about all that brought us to Stage Two that we tempt ourselves to give in and "reward" ourselves with days off we don't deserve and foods we KNOW we don't need.
Stage Two isn't fun and it's a mind game. But, it's not impossible to move out of. It just takes focus and a committment to your goals. Focus on that and you will find yourself in Stage Three before you know it.
Now, tell me what Stage you are in, discuss how you feel, what you do in that stage, and share your success or struggles.
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Workout Journal: Thursday - I took a DOR. I was pretty busy yesterday and my legs are near shot from legs on Wed. I almost can't get up and down without assistance. Thanks BILL! Today was supposed to be a 2.5 mile run but there is no way I can do that without ruining tomorrow's run of 10 miles. So, it will be shoulders and I'll do a walk tonight on the treadmill for an hour when I go back to the gym for DH's workout.