My Journey With Weight Loss – How I Keep Myself Moving

Yesterday I went for my quarterly A1C blood test (A1C is 5.3 which surprised me after having taken a month off of running) and a gentleman got off the elevator. I said, well hi darlin’ and he looked at me with a blank expression on his face. He stepped back and started to apologize for not knowing who I was but then shouted out, oh my God, it’s you! He hasn’t seen me since the initial lock down began in 2020 and said while he had seen pictures on Facebook I look even better in person. He also said he just can’t get used to seeing how small I am. That really made me feel good.

Yesterday was the normal start of my training for the week and as usual for a Monday I did a 5km run followed by an 8km run today. I started thinking about how it always seems to be hardest at the beginning of the week to be motivated (really, I only take 1 day off a week and the other 6 days are some sort of training). I never seem to have a problem with the 2nd half of a run but the 1st half seems to take forever. I started thinking about how do I manage to keep myself moving even when some motivation is lacking.

I realized there are a couple of ways I do this inside my head. The 1st is when I am thinking about maybe taking a bit of a break during a run I chant in my head, just one step at a time and you will get through this. I tend to have to repeat this a lot during the 1st half but by the 2nd half it is just counting down how few blocks I have left. That mantra in my head gives me focus. Instead of thinking how I don’t want to do the training I think about the small stuff, one step closer to finishing.

I think the 2nd thing I use to keep going is the thought that if I quit I will only be disappointing myself. This training is only about me, not what anyone else thinks. I need to own my challenges and accomplishments. I need to embrace that feeling of getting to the end of the run. I need to be proud of what I have managed to do. Ultimately, I need to cherish the journey I have been on and the successes I have.

I can assure you I will be using both of these on Saturday when I do a 12km run. Strangely enough though, I actually look forward to it just so that I can say after taking that month off I am still really fit.

So remember, it is only 1 step at a time that moves you forward. You can start small but those steps will eventually get you to your goal. They sure have done so for me.