Look Back, Not Forward

Look back, not forward??  I'm sure that is the opposite of every thing you've ever been told.  But it's the one thing I'd tell myself if I could go back in time to last year.

This time last year I had lost about 8 pounds and 10 inches.  I'd just finished my 6th week of T25.  I was down a pants size and feeling great.  I walked into Target to get new shorts.  I took shorts in my new size into the dressing room.  Cute mint green shorts, size 11/12.  I put them on and the material wouldn't even touch.  Much less the button to the hole.  I immediately lost it.  Ugly tears.  I was angry... Beyond frustrated.  I wanted to quit.  Why keep going when it wasn't paying off?

Truth is... It was paying off.  The proof was in the progress pics I'd been taking.  The proof was in my energy level.  So why did this send me over the edge?  Easy.... It was the reminder of how far I still had to go.  It looked daunting back then.  It seemed hopeless.

I'm forever grateful that I didn't give up on myself.  I kept going.  I am thankful to have given myself the opportunity to have my next ugly cry.  It was in American Eagle in August of last year.  I went to try on jeggings.  I took in 10s and they were too big.  Cautiously I asked for an 8... Not wanting to get too excited.  They fit.  Cue the ugly cry... I was excited.  I was in disbelief.  It was happening.

When this journey seems to much, think about where you began.  Congratulate yourself on your accomplishments.  The journey is long... It's a marathon, not a sprint.  If you're in this for the right reasons, you will be rewarded.  Hang in there.  I know what it feels like.  I know it feels impossible.  But it IS possible.  I'm proof.

first 12 weeks of my journey