When do you give up?

A friend of mine posted something on Facebook that sparked internal debate all day.

Question of the day: When do you give up?

My response was:

When you realize what you were fighting for isn’t something you want anymore.

However I’ve thought of all the reasons I’ve given up in the past: it was too hard, I didn’t see results fast enough, I thought I wasn’t worthy of the end goal, I doubted myself too much, I let someone talk me out of what I wanted….

I thought about how I focused on things that aren’t important any longer. I don’t NEED to be a Weight Watchers lifetime member (more on that here if you missed it). I don’t base my self-worth off the number on the scale. I gave up on those dreams – because they didn’t fit my life anymore. I mentioned before the idea of people leaving your life because they just don’t have a place in your future. I think dreams/goals/wishes are the same. Sometimes what you wanted at the moment isn’t what you want a year from now. I remember when I was 17 I wanted to get my eyeliner tattooed on my eye. Thank god I didn’t – I hate eyeliner now! I’ve never gotten a tattoo because I could never commit to something for more than a few months. My taste would change.

All that said, do I want to be healthy? Yes. Am I taking steps every day to attain that goal? Yes. Have I realized that sometimes as you get mid-project you have to readjust the expectations and the approach? Yes!

I’m taking a Project Management course at work an it’s been helpful not just for my day job, but also my life. Am I assessing the risk of the projects I take on? Do I have backup plans? Have I considered all possible outcomes? Nope.

I’m very much a “make a plan and stick to it” person – but that doesn’t always work in life or in projects. Things change, people change, situations have new dimensions added that you hadn’t thought of. How do you roll with it? Are you willing to refocus your efforts? Or do you throw in the towel and move on?

I’m very interested to hear what you guys have to say – when do YOU give up?

(not just in weight-loss – in anything. When is enough really enough?)

P.S. – According to the late, great Winston Churchill the answer is never.

 

 

Blogger Inspirations and Action Plans

Happy Monday ya’ll! I had a “meh” week. I’ve been feeling like I’m on a hill rolling backwards … and I couldn’t find the brakes. Luckily on Saturday I found them and stopped myself before I threw in the towel and resigned myself to “just being fat” forever. I don’t know why I go through spells like this, I should probably explore that!

Saturday I got out in the rain, got my ass to the gym and worked, worked, worked my butt off. I was sore that night, and yesterday it actually hurt to move my middle (you have no idea how much you use your core muscles until they are on fire!). My abs are still hella SORE! Score! I love that soreness that reminds you of how hard you work (and prevents you from eating crap you know you shouldn’t!). I got back to the gym yesterday and did some cardio along with a nice dumb-bell routine. Back in the saddle, as they say!

I sat down this morning and was inspired by a new blogger I’ve been following (Eat Drink Breathe Sweat) to write out my weekly plan of action. Here it is:

Food -
An average of 1400 calories per day, tracking everything I eat
More veggies/fruits
100 oz. of water a day

Workout schedule -
Mon:  Zoe drilling DVD
Tues:  Morning circuit training  (because I have dinner plans)
Weds: Evening cardio
Thurs: Lunchtime circuit training (working from home has it benefits!) plus Zoe drilling DVD
Fri: Evening Cardio (hopefully outside if it’s not too hot)
Sat: Circuit training plus cardio session
Sun: Father’s Day – cardio session with Dad (beach walk maybe?) plus Zoe DVD

Sounds like a very do-able week! I added it to my BlackBerry calendar with reminders. Do you guys map out a plan for your week? Does it help keep your on track?

I’ve also been inspired by Jess’ blog to try ballet. She takes classes at barre n9ne and I really want to try one of the classes now! Anyone out there doing ballet as a non-skinny girl? How’s it working for you? I noticed the studio has virtual classes so I might try that before I totally embarrass myself in pubic, lol!

I think this class sounds right up my alley: Get the legs of a DIVA without the Swan Lake soundtrack. This fun, new class uses the principles of classical ballet to sculpt, lengthen and strengthen your body in a style that is fun and upbeat; so you get all the benefits of ballet, without all the ballet attitude.

In other news…

I’ve been watching “Extreme Makeover: Weight-loss” as mentioned here and I was really upset by the idea of skin surgery being a reward. I just couldn’t wrap my head around why someone so young would be encouraged to get surgery! Luckily, I’m not alone, or crazy. I came across a blog I really enjoy reading and low and behold, the author “Less Jess” (a different Jess) has a post all about loose skin! She also had some kickass tips on weight-loss. My favorite by far:

Switch On Your “Feast Mode” Metabolism!
No matter how advance we think we are, our bodies are still very primitive. Our natural instincts to food is to eat, eat, EAT!!! This is because people were built to go long periods without food. When our bodies are introduced to ample food, our bodies eventually enter “feast mode,” and your metabolism shifts into high gear to burn all the incoming food!

Having a feast day followed by moderate calorie control = excellent weight loss.

Many dieters fail because they restrict their calories too much. This triggers the body into starvation mode!!! In starvation mode your body’s metabolism slows to a crawl, and any extra calories are stored as fat!!

Many weight loss plateaus are the body’s reaction to being “death-marched.” No matter how hard you try to lose weight, you will get no where because your body is in metabolic lock down!

The fastest way I found to break a plateau is to start eating the full amount of calories my body needs daily. After a week of “maintenance mode” calories – my body (finally) reacts when I cut back to get things moving again.

I had never thought about that. Usually when I’m plateauing I trying eating less not more!  Hmmm! Maybe I was hurting myself instead of helping. Food for thought (pun intended).