One down, 11 to go!

It’s been one month!  One month of no gluten, no dairy, and no sugar.  One month of making sure I work out three times per week.  I made it through this month and I lived to tell about it!  It was touch and go there at the beginning.  During this one-month period, I have lost some weight, gained strength, and learned to tune out that little voice inside of my head that tells me I can’t do it.  My weight loss has not been as significant as I had hoped.  When I find myself in the midst of a pity party, I realize that this journey is about gaining strength, not losing weight.  Muscle does weigh more than fat, so I am going to try to ignore the scale and focus on my lifts getting heavier each week.  Maybe I will toss the scale into the trash.  My husband also has to remind me (daily) that this is a marathon, not a sprint.  Instant gratification is what we all want, right?  Well, years of mediocrity are not going to fade away instantly.  I am going to be the tortoise here; slow and steady wins the race. 

It’s funny how I have to remind myself of my goals almost daily.  I was at the pool with my family last week, and there was a group of ladies there with their children.  These women were gorgeous, tall, extremely thin, and rocking awesome two-pieces bikinis.  I looked at them longingly, in adoration of their slender Hollywood-like frames.  Then I reminded myself that while they are beautiful, I don’t want to look like them.  I want to look like me, with muscle definition.  I want to be able to Hulk smash anything that gets in my way!  Maybe turning into a green monster is a little extreme, but you get the idea. 

I am going to take each of the remaining 333 days one at a time.  I am going to be proud of myself for my successes and forgiving of myself when I have a misstep.  One down, 11 to go!