We all reach those points where it can feel like we never made any progress to begin with. You know that feeling where you’re pretty damn sure you never lost any weight, in fact, you probably gained it all back in 15 minutes with that cheesecake you splurged on. False! Keeping our mentality in check is the biggest key to making progress and staying happy, healthy, and fit! I had this realization the other day and decided to run with it. I was going through old photos on Facebook and ran across a photo of me from a year ago in June 2011. My jaw nearly hit the floor. It was as if I didn’t realize I’d lost weight since then.
I truly believe that there is a gap of time we all go through where our minds haven’t caught up with our bodies. Our friends and family see our results, especially people that haven’t seen you in a while. But it takes some time for us to see it ourselves. Losing weight and changing the shape of your body can also sometimes make you feel MORE insecure. Sounds silly but I’ve definitely felt this way from time to time. Suddenly you’re more in tune with your body, your muscle mass, the tone and shape of parts of your body you would have never dreamed of exposing before. It makes us more aware which can sometimes lead us to over-analyze our own bodies, maybe even be more critical. It’s so important to be patient and loving every step of the way. To realize we aren’t machines, we’re human. 
It’s also great to find other ways to measure your progress BESIDES the scale! I HATE THE SCALE! Stay tuned for a rant about that at some point. Besides what you weight and even the numbers you will find doing measurements, think about other things that PROVE your progress. Here’s an example. At work while back I looked down and noticed something strange. The boots I’d bought about 8 months ago suddenly were looser…around my calve! This has happened with multiple pairs of boots/shoes. Even putting on an old sweatshirt the other day when I was moving boxes, I realized how lose it was. These little moments of realization are big reality checks.
Ever go to the store in search of new clothes and keep finding yourself picking up sizes that are too big? Why aren’t these fitting? After a while it’s almost like you have to train your brain to see what everyone else does.
Starting the journey for better health and fitness can be tough. Even staying on track can be tough. But if you take the time to see all of these little things and think about how you truly feel after eating healthy and working out, you’ll be surprised at the benefits of all of it!
Also – a picture I found on Pinterest that has really inspired me to start doing more resistance training. This woman did an incredible job with the 30 day shred!
Fit Cupcake 