Liberating and Empowering - Part I

Recently I've used the word liberating quite a few times in comments I've made on blog posts. I think that's the one word that best describes how the weight loss process has been for me. Liberating -- and if I had to choose another word, empowering.

Changing my attitude towards health and fitness came gradually.

For me, it was weight lifting that really got me started. In the beginning, I would tentatively hide up in the women's area of the gym and pick up the weights -- and by the end of just the first phase of the New Rules of Lifting for Women program, I had seen a lot of progress. By the end of the whole program, I felt … you guessed it - liberated and empowered!

For me, what really helped was making note of my progress. I had my fitness routine written down, and  I made sure to write down what exercise I was doing and what resistance I was using. This way I had a record of what I was doing so I didn't need to restart the program from scratch. More importantly, each time I was able to lift a little more, I felt great.

It felt amazing to go from doing a 12 kg back squat to an 80 kg back squat -- and eventually to my 105 kg 1RM (which I haven't hit again in a while). Just writing that down gets my adrenaline going.

It makes me KNOW, not just believe, that I can do whatever I set out to do.

If you read through my blog, you can see that I had many, many struggles. I still do. However, I've seen what I can accomplish. I know what that accomplishment feels like. More importantly, I know that I can do it. The only thing standing in my way is myself.

It's amazing how quickly those negative thoughts can multiply and get in the way of real progress.

This is when you have to be strong. This is when you have to free yourself from doubt and push through -- know that you are strong. Know that what you dream for yourself is possible. Know that the temporary discomfort and doubt is just that -- temporary. You need to just stick to your plan and keep moving forward.

I still walk around the gym with my chart and my pen. The system works for me, so I've stuck to it. I feel that over the past 6 months I have lost a lot of muscle/strength. I want that back. I've lost some muscle definition and just overall, I'm not feeling that lean and strong. It's frustrating because in some ways it does feel like a step back. However, I've spent long enough organizing my plan and writing things down. The time to act is now. I'm doing great with my exercise -- now it's the food that has to follow. This is definitely where the Whole Life Challenge is going to come in.

More on that tomorrow …