Hard work sucks.

The title explains my current mood. We are a week past the biggest candy holiday in the United States. Beating out Valentines and Christmas by a long shot is the great Halloween. A time for parties and indulgence galore. Costumes, Candy, and Cervezas! A wonderful time of the year filled with merriment and a desire to join your community with a goal of enjoyment. A time of indulgence that this year I tempered deeply.

As I’ve said previously on this blog, I am trying to lose weight. Part of my long term goals involve me being a healthier person, as well as pursuing my writing goals. Part of that healthier attitude means abstaining from as much frivolity as I normally would. That is the basis for being healthier in general, better moderation. I told you about setting budgets for myself. In the nutrition world, holidays are a budget breaker. Halloween breaks the bank in terms of all the delicious treats and parties!

I did very good though. I limited myself at events, didn’t dive in to the delicious candy (even though Almond Joy’s were available), and didn’t party to hard with adult beverages. This brings me to my budget for nutrition. I kept it extremely well. I tracked my calories to go against the amount of exercise I was doing and continued to lose weight. In total from February of this year I am down 19.5 pounds. Really hitting it hard these last few months has gotten me ten of that. It starts to get stressful when you look at the amount of work you are putting in to the actual results. The scariest thing is the plateau. Where we keep working hard and our results seem to taper off.

That’s why hard work sucks. You get to a point where you’re busting your butt and you begin to taper off. What you are doing has worked but now you need to add a new item in to the mix. On top of that there are no longer congratulations and way to goes. The exterior motivation of people telling you great job evaporates and you’re left with your own internal motivation. A lot of us have been there before and lost that fight. That’s how I got overweight in the first place, no motivation to really track my health. I can feel myself falling in to that bit of frustration as I’m starting to plateau again. Kicking it up a notch i need to find a new way of viewing this health quest.

One of my new ways of motivation is to think of this like a pyramid. I’m very big in to visualizing goals, they make it easier for me to physically identify with my successes. Right now I’m laying a foundation for a beautiful pyramid that will be my good health. The hardest layer of a pyramid is the foundation. It’s the largest and most difficult, which is why it takes the most effort. Each new layer will present a new challenge of lifting up but it will be a little bit easier if I have that solid foundation. That’s where I feel I am right now. That I have finished the start of my foundation. Tracking Calories consistently and working out weekly. The next layer, it’s scary but I have some ideas.

Some of the things I can do to make the next layer in weight loss is a simple increase in workout goals. More cardio and general activity will lead to more weight loss. I will combine that with planning out more meals. healthier meals in the long run will set me up for success. I think for mental health blogging more will help me. It’s an excellent way for me to progress towards writing ( along term goal) and for me to rant a bit for my mental health.

The hard work sucks, and it’s ok to acknowledge it sucks. Nothing worth gaining has ever been given easy. Your hard work will pay off even if it tempers for a moment. if it does you know it’s your chance to double down and rise up! Set the foundation in the ground and sprint to your next layer. Take an honest inventory of what your doing and how you can improve. Work sucks but eventually it’ll suck a little less. Then you might even have a bit of fun on the way to whatever makes you happy.

Happy building,

K