I Always Want a Pepsi

Persevere....in ALL areas of life.

It's been about 4 months since I joined a gym (Planet Fitness) and started going 3x a week. I knew that when I started, I HAD to stay committed to it, especially at the beginning so I could make it a habit and make it a regular part of my life schedule. I said to myself, the 3 month mark and the 6 month mark would be important milestones to keep. I am right in between those two milestones. I passed the 3 month mark fine, and now I'm at a crossroads.

Here's the thing. The first 3 months were kinda miserable going to the gym. Everyone who knows me knows that I hate going to the gym, and that I would much rather play sports everyday of my life for my physical fitness activity. I would love to play softball, tennis, raquetball, basketball, volleyball....anything....ANY SPORT! Last time I tried to make the gym a regular part of my life was back in my 1st year at UVA. Yeah, that lasted about a......month - if that. These first three months at Planet Fitness were hard, because I had to convince myself to go even though I did not want to. I had to learn certain exercises from scratch, my muscles ached for days after my workouts because some of them had never been used before like that, it caused me to get home late after work, it made me miss many different social activities with my friends, etc. I didn't feel like I was making progress at all. One good thing I did was find an accountability partner, a gym buddy, who went with me pretty regularly 3x a week. That was a great decision and really helped me get through those first 3 months.

After the 3 month mark, things started to change. For one, my gym buddy started to fall off on his regularity for one reason or the other, so I was left to brave the gym by myself. That made me a little uncomfortable at first, but once I realized I knew what I was doing, I knew I would be ok. The first 3 months, I saw NO results. No weight loss. No comments by others. No difference in my clothes. But once I turned that corner after the 3 months, I could tell my muscles were getting much more tone, everyone I came in contact with started complimenting me saying I looked good, I started to lose a few pounds, and most importantly I just felt so much better and healthier! The true test of progress was getting a compliment from my harshest critic - my mother. When I say harsh, its really just because she loves me so much. I remember coming home from work one day and she said I looked great, like I was really toning up and losing weight! Talk about a boost of confidence! I started feeling healthier, looking healthier, my body started to crave healthier foods such as spinach and fruits. But now that I'm at this 4 month mark, I feel like I can go one of two ways. I'm at a crossroads if you will. I can take all those compliments and say "ok, I did it, now I can slack off and just marvel at my success" or I can stick to it and persevere and continue to stay committed. Even when I want to start eating a lot of sweets and tons of fast food, I need to stay committed to eating healthier too. Another huge milestone I have to get through one day is the day I give up my pepsi. Haha. I ALWAYS want a pepsi and I have about 1, sometimes 2, a day. Not good, I know. It's my weakness. But one day I tell you, one day I will give it up and I will start working towards the next milestone. One step at a time. For now, I hope I make it to that 6 month mark.

As a girl in my CG said last week, "keep on swimming, keep on swimming..."