Queen was right on the money with that song, “I want it all”.
Everything about our lives is all about instant gratification. About the destination rather than the journey. We all want to be rich, to be thin, to be accomplished. We want it all, and we want it now. Don’t worry, I count myself within the royal “we”.
I’m getting ready for my run, it’s an 11 miler. The way a marathon training program generally works is that you start out small with your miles. 4 runs a week : 2 shorts, 1 medium, and 1 long. Then every week you up the mileage about 10 percent or so. So you can imagine that going from 5 mile runs up to 20 mile runs, takes about 4 months or so.
So I find myself frustrated. I’ve already run a marathon. Why am I stuck back here again, doing training runs working up to the big cheese? Can’t I just run 20 milers for my long runs every week and be done with it? I would enjoy adding the calories burnt to my budget I’m sure. But what I wouldn’t enjoy is the injury to my legs. My body needs to work up to the longer, more taxing runs. If I try to do too much too soon, well just read about the eager beaver from last time.
Guess what? This applies to everything, weight loss especially. You want to be skinny, beach ready by summer. Let’s see, do some math… that’s maybe 10 lbs a month right? (Random numbers for you. It will vary) That’s doable, that’s setting a goal and making a plan. Wrong. I guarantee tears if you give yourself a required pound amount per month. Don’t limit your success to an arbitrary timeline. Go ahead and make a budget that will help you maximize your weight loss. But relish each pound as it melts away instead of focusing on how many more are to go.
Would you be disappointed if summer came and you’d only lost 20 of your unwanted 30 pounds? You shouldn’t. It’s a process and if you’re doing all the right things and sticking to your budget, then it will come off when its ready to. Each body is different and yours might want to hang onto those last few pounds for a really long goodbye. Let it. Don’t beat yourself up. Your efforts have already made you a success and probably a much healthier person too.
So whatever you’re doing: running, losing weight, writing, school, whatever — don’t rush over the little dips to get to the end. Celebrate each chapter, mile, and pound. Every one is an accomplishment and every one is essential to the pathway of your goal. Enjoy the ride.