Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

I'm sure Winston Churchill has been misquoted many times as having said those words. I actually thought he did until I looked it up. He actually said, "We will never surrender". The way it's worded in the title of this blog post is actually from a movie called "Galaxy Quest". Anyone remember that? Funny, huh?

Anyway, the reason I gave the post that title is because it would be very easy for me to be discouraged and want to give up on my journey to health and fitness. I just finished week 2 of the 21 Day Fix and I weighed in this morning. Frustratingly, there was no change on the scale. But that is why we take measurements, isn't it, people?! If I hadn't measured this morning, I wouldn't have known that I lost a couple inches in my waist! So obviously something is happening. It just didn't show on the scale.

Weight is so subjective. When you step on a scale, you are weighing everything. And I mean EVERYTHING! Bones. Skin. Muscle. Water. Hair. So it really doesn't say a whole lot when I don't see a change on the scale from one week to the next. Could be I'm retaining water. Maybe I gained some muscle (which weighs more than fat, by the way). Maybe it was because I've been nursing injuries which prevented me from working out as hard as I would have liked. 

Weight loss is also very subjective. Everyone is different and everyone loses weight differently. You should never compare your progress with anyone else's. Everybody goes at their own speed and pace. One of the things I love about the workouts on the 21 Day Fix is that they have modifications so that anyone, at any fitness level, can do it. And you can work your way up and get better and better at it. Because of my injuries, I've had to take things a little slower, but I will get there. Eventually.

The important thing is that I KNOW the 21 Day Fix program is working. Maybe it's going a little slower for me than for other people, but it's working. How do I know (aside from the lost inches? Yay!)? Because I feel better. I feel healthier. I feel stronger. I have more energy. I can do more in the workouts this week than I could last week. And all of that means so much more than a number on a scale or whether somebody else lost more pounds in the same amount of time.

So, when things get hard and you feel frustrated because your results are slower than you'd like, look for the small changes. Focus on how much better you feel. Don't give the scale power over your emotions. It's an inanimate object. It doesn't care about your feelings. YOU decide how you feel! 

Just remember these words:

Never give up! Never surrender!