I can’t believe tomorrow starts week 12 of my 80 Day Obsession journey!! It has literally flown by. And I’m sad it’s almost over. Which seems crazy, compared to how I felt that first two weeks ha!
When I started this program I had zero expectations for myself. I really had no idea what I was getting into. I just knew something(somethingS) needed to change. Which sounds sad, that I didn’t have a goal.
I guess my goal was simply to START.
In the year prior, I kept trying to take that first step, but my feet were weighed down with life and completely stuck in their quicksand ways. But then this process fell in my lap, and you know what? It gave me a starting day. A day #1. And it’s like that was all I needed. I needed someone else to set my start day(and I started on a Friday by the way, not a Monday, just to spite). I needed someone else to say this is the day you will begin, this is the workout you need to complete, and this is how you need to eat. And the rest is history.
I’m now 11 weeks in, sitting at my dining room table with coconut milk in my coffee(what the what?!) and a bowl of fruit and some raw almonds. Me. The Pringles and Cheezits girl. Eating fruit. And raw. almonds.
AND LIKING IT.
And I have no plans to do anything different on day 81( I lie. I have a few plans that involve chocolate). I worked too hard to get here. This is my new normal. A new way to live. A new way to look at food. Not bound to a program or having a rigid relationship with food, but rather having a less emotional attachment to it. That doesn’t mean I don’t have plans for chocolate chip cookies on Thursday April 26th ha! Because I absolutely do. And at some point that weekend chips and queso will happen, and my stomach will HATE me, but I’m prepared to pay this price. Because I did what I came to do, what I didn’t even realize I wanted to do until I STARTED. And that is to stick with the program, all of me in for the whole of it, and to complete it. I feel I did it well, and I did myself this great service of sticking to a program and actually FINISHING IT. And it’s ok if that comes with a treat at the end that has to do with processed cheese and all the milk chocolate. Because it will have been 13 weeks with no giving in. No cheating. No bites of anything that didn’t follow the plan.
And here’s the thing about that, in case you see that and think well crap, I ate some of the cookies ALREADY, and I’m on day #6. I guess I need to be perfect.
No you don’t.
This is how I needed to do this. All in, fully committed to re-training my mind for the duration of this program. Not everyone who does this program has the same mentality or view on it. Some people are ok with a food related “non plan” approved treat here and there. But I knew, FOR ME, because of where I was when I started this process, that I needed to follow it to a T. And I did, and it feels so good. But that’s ME. That was my journey. It doesn’t have to be yours. I was fortunate that I stayed healthy, my kids are older and my husband had a relatively tame season of work. But I know it could have been much different. I mean, for the first time in like two years no one broke a bone falling off a scooter or rip stick and no one had the flu. And I didn’t have 4,934 sinus infections. And I remained injury free. So it’s been a minute since things fell into place like this for me. Like, a minute that looked a lot more like two years.
And your reality may look nothing like mine.
And that’s ok.
I want to encourage you and challenge you to do YOUR VERY BEST with whatever circumstances you find yourself in. Ya’ll. I have ladies in my group who have 5-7 kids, work full-time demanding careers, have babies at home, work from home plus care for babies and older kids, have husbands that travel, who are dealing with devastating illnesses of loved ones, and those who have started, stopped, and started over. It’s life. And life can be so very hard and cruel at times. And that is completely ok. But I think this process is reminding me that while there are obstacles, and there is grace, there is also an element here of CHOICE that says I will control what goes into my mouth when those stressful moments come. I’ll choose to workout, even if it’s only for 15 minutes. I will choose to train my mind to think on things that are good for me, not toxic for me. I will choose to get sleep. I will treat myself with love and respect and not cast myself aside when things become crazy or out of control.
You have to be prepared to offer yourself grace for what life may bring your way as you try to better yourself. BUT, you also have to challenge yourself. Push yourself. PROVE YOURSELF WRONG when your mind tells you life is too crazy, it’s not a good season, you are too busy, too weak, too prone to giving into temptation. Can I lovingly tell you that all of those thoughts are ways your mind tries to convince you to do anything but work hard at something? Because we know it will require something of us, we do our best to find ways around it. Am I right? I know that stings a bit, it does for me too, because it’s what I did for so long, but it’s true. And that’s the power of our minds.
Any process to get healthy or to accomplish a goal of any kind will require saying no to things. It will require getting out of your comfort zone in the workouts. It will require time in the kitchen, preparing food and shopping when you feel like ordering in. It will require sacrifice. It will require perhaps a never before tapped into level of discipline. It will require showing up, day after day.
This program is not a magic pill. It’s not one product claiming to transform your life. It is a PROCESS. It’s solid nutrition and exercise. It’s hard work. And I think that’s why I believe in it so much. And why I freaking love it. Because ya’ll. You WILL do this and be able to look back and know that YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS! The hard and the struggle and the tears and the sweat and the frustration and the fatigue make it SO AMAZINGLY WORTH IT. Because you will know that you ARE capable. You ARE strong. You ARE able to do hard things. You ARE capable of finishing a program, beginning to end. You ARE worthy and loved and made for purpose. I’ve said that so many times during this process, but at our core, we have to know we have worth and value and purpose, otherwise, why do this for ourselves? If we feel we are worthless, we won’t push to do anything good. We won’t make the necessary changes for our bodies if we feel we don’t matter. But you matter. And that is something no one can take away from you. Isn’t that amazing? YOU MATTER.
I did this for me. Not to be skinny. Not to sell Beachbody. Not to get more followers. Not to have content for the blog, in fact, I’ve written about half of what I planned to write along the way. And that’s ok.
I did this for myself. Because I was dying a bit inside, and was so very desperate for change. And this changed me. It changed my relationship to Christ, as my center and my focus has shifted from self pity and frustration and sadness to joy, and to gratitude for this one life. It has changed my marriage, which was in a really sweet place before I started this, but is even better now. It’s changed my kids and the tone of our home. It has changed the way I SEE MY ROLE AS A MOM. I have more energy and I feel more attentive. Do I still yell and lose my ever-loving cool sometimes? You bet. Because again, NOT about perfection. But change. Progress. Forward motion.
It’s not about you having to do 80 Day Obsession. I believe it’s an AMAZING program that absolutely has the power to change your life. I know it has mine. BUT I think more importantly, it has reminded me that at the very core of this health thing, is solid nutrition and exercise. Self-care and tending to your needs. That doesn’t make you selfish, it simply allows you to care for others better. To do your job more effectively. To love well. To be attentive to the needs of others, because you are being well cared for.
I have two weeks to go, and my body and mind are tired. I’ve had days where my energy is through the roof, and days where the fatigue and demands of daily workouts and a calorie deficit for 11 straight weeks has taken its toll. And that’s ok. It’s not about being superhuman you guys. It’s not about perfection(Pete and repeat, as my mom always used to say when I would ask for the same thing over and over and over again). It’s about a choice. The healthy choice. For you.
When this program is finished, I’m not done. 80 days is a long time. Like, a really long time. And the beauty of that is your mind becomes so engrained in the process that you forget about before, and don’t want there to be an “after.” I want this to be a new normal for me, and I believe that because it’s been so life changing, it’ll stick. I’ll add in some cookies here and there, because life, but plan to stick with this program with a few occasional exceptions. I’ll change things up a hair, but I’ll plan to begin round #2 on April 30th with our next challenge group, which I’d LOVE for you to join!! Drop me a note below or an email for details about all that fun. Redheadontherun1@gmail.com.
I’m hoping to add triathlon prep back into my weekly training, so we’ll see if I’m able to juggle both.
Thanks so much for following along on this crazy journey. Thank you for reaching out to encourage me, and my prayer is that the words you read here encourage you right back, and challenge you to jump outside of your comfort zone. To do something hard. To prove your stubborn mind so very wrong, because you can do hard things. I know you can. xoxoxo
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