When talking to yourself, what language do you use?

I haven’t been feeling so great about myself, folks.  I’m frankly quite disappointed.  Throughout the majority of my pregnancy with Tori, I was “all belly” and hardly gained any weight anywhere else on my body.  By the end of the pregnancy I had convinced myself that within 60-90 days of having my daughter I would be back to my pre-pregnancy size.  We’re now almost 13 months past my daughter’s birth and I weigh almost five pounds more than I did at the end of my pregnancy – that’s after joining a gym three months ago and having little success with my diet and exercise plan.

I am still determined to lose the weight, but as the days stretch on and my progress gets slower I can’t seem to focus on anything but the negative.  My internal voice hasn’t been kind lately, and that’s just self-destructive.  All these thoughts will do is make me more miserable and set me up for failure.  I need to snap out of this and find a new perspective.  I know I’m not the only one.

Let’s find the reasons for wanting to do this and change our language. 

I need to gain more energy so I can play with Tori.  I need to lose weight so that my body is healthier and can deal with the stress under which I put it.  Most importantly, I need to start living a healthier lifestyle so that my daughter has the opportunity to grow up with an example of how to care for herself in today’s hurried and often half-assed culture.

Those are the items on which I need to focus.  Those are the words that will get me to my goal.  Self-destructive language will only slow me down.

So how do you speak to yourself?  Do you tell yourself that you can reach your goals because you'd like to be better to yourself?  Or do you tell yourself that you'll never get what you desire because you're too < insert self-depreciating word here > to do it? 

Let's try to be better for ourselves.  We owe it to our families, our friends, our children . . . but most importantly, we deserve to be treated better. 

Here's the Plan, Stan

I started working out at a recommended gym on August 10th. At the same time I started being more conscious about what I was eating and drinking.

The first week I lost two pounds (yippee!).
The second week I lost one pound.
The third week I gained a pound. (Insert discouragement here.)

Luckily, my gym membership came with three personal training sessions, so I decided it was time to sign up. I had my first session this morning at 10:00 am. I found out some interesting things.

• I’m doing well in eating 4-5 times a day instead of 2-3, but I’m not eating enough at each session to fuel my calorie usage as I exercise
• Working with weights causes you to burn more calories and keeps your metabolism raised for some time after your workout
• While weight-loss results will take longer, the energy-boosting benefits of working with weights is almost immediate
• The personal trainer was really nice to look at
• Women should not weigh weekly because of the hormonal changes constantly occurring in the female body – it’s more accurate to measure using body mass index and inches lost 
• Instead of 3 days a week I should aim for 4-5 days a week in order to shock my system into weight loss
  

I am sure that going to the gym and working on the elliptical or the bike would get old – so it’s nice to be able to go in and actually know how to safely use the other gym equipment. It will certainly spice up my workouts a bit more, and hopefully it will bring me the results I’m seeking. Today the trainer showed me how to work on my abs, back, and thighs. My next appointment is Tuesday at 10:00 and then I hope to focus on my arms then. Who knows what we’ll do during my third appointment.

Wish me luck, folks!