Excuses Excuses Excuses

Since starting my Jillian Michaels workout DVD two weeks ago, I've noticed a few things that I'm going to share.

1) I didn't lose any weight. Bad.
2) I lost roughly 3 inches total from various areas of my body (all in the first week). Good, but Bad.
3) The workout went from being hard to being somewhat easy; which means I've toned up the muscles I've been working. Good.
4) I'm dissatisfied. Granted, I've only been doing them for 2 weeks, but I already feel like maybe they aren't challenging me enough. Bad, but Good.

I'm just getting to the point where I am frustrated and a little disappointed in myself. As with any journey to better health, we all have ups and downs, and again, NOBODY is perfect. In January I lost 8 pounds, and since then I haven't lost any more. We all hit walls, but I'm beginning to feel like mine has been a concrete barrier reinforced with steel. Seriously, I might be a little dramatic, but it doesn't change the way I feel. Sometimes we can feel like we are doing everything right, but there isn't any payoff to show for it.

So, after wallowing in my own self pity and slight, very temporary depression, I've decided to try and change things up again instead of giving up. First, I plan to finish out my remaining 2 weeks doing my Jillian workout because I said I'd commit to it for 4 weeks, and then I'm going to do Insanity.

I've always been afraid to do workouts like P90X and Insanity because I never thought that I would be good enough to do them or finish them out. But, I've heard of so many people doing them now, many people that I know, and I realized I was just making ridiculous excuses. Most people can't do the workouts very well, but at least they're trying. If I don't try, how will I ever know what I'm actually capable of?

Recently I signed up to do Color Run this summer. I asked several friends to sign up with me and form a team. 80% of my responses were, Sounds fun, but I can't run. If those words ever come out of my mouth, I better be pregnant and on best rest, or old and weak. My appologies if this offends anyone, but if I couldn't run, even a little, I would start trying. The positive health affects from running are too awesome to ignore. Just saying...

I was also able to talk a great friend of mine into doing a 5K run on St. Patty's Day weekend. At first her response was, Haha, Nope! when I asked her if she was interested in doing it; however, she pleasantly surprised me when she changed her mind. Instead of falling victim to the I can't run line, she changed it to, I can't make any promises, but I'll try. Sounds corny, but I couldn't have been any more proud of her at that moment! :)

You never know what you are capable of doing until you actually try doing it. Don't give up before you start, and don't make excuses just to find a way out of it. How do you know how far you can go unless you take a few steps in that direction? Think about that next time you say, I can't run, or whatever it is that's holding you back from living.