If you’re new to The Foxy Kat blog and my Extreme Transformation journey, let me catch you up. On August 1st I started following a formal plan to help guide me to make better decisions around exercise and meal planning. Every phase, or 21 days, I’ve been updating my readers on where I’m at in my journey. To start from the beginning, read previous blog posts about Phase I, Phase II, Phase III, Phase IV, Phase V and now Phase VI. I set a goal for myself to reach my wedding weight by the time I left for my Cabo Thanksgiving vacation on 11/23/16. That gave me less than 4 months to lose 20 pounds. I hate to say this, but I was exactly one pound away from reaching my goal! Now that I’m back from Cabo I actually gained five pounds over my trip, lost four of those pounds and ended Phase VI on 12/3/16 about 1 pound more than where I was at when I ended the previous phase. This means that I’m now two pounds away from my goal!
Even though I would have loved to say that I reached my goal weight by the deadline that I set for myself, I’m realizing that what happens when you don’t reach your goal is just as important if not more important than actually reaching your goal. It can be super discouraging when you work so hard at something and don’t actually obtain the end result that you’re looking for. This can be in relation to your health goals, or any other goals that you set for yourself like financial goals, career goals, etc. It is key to remember how hard you’ve worked and it’s important to celebrate that. When my family and I went to Cabo, I made sure to celebrate the hard work that I had put towards reaching my goal and I took a brief pause in my meal planning and exercise schedule. I know that it’s okay to take a break to enjoy myself. After putting forth the hard work and getting this far along, I was naturally more cautious in my food and drink decisions without even realizing it. Some foods just didn’t sound as good to me now that I know how they make me feel when I eat them. After two days of not exercising, I woke up on day three craving a mini HIIT session on my balcony, followed by a short beach run and some yoga. The important thing to remember here is to celebrate your wins and the hard work you’ve put forth. Don’t get discouraged!
Another thing to think about is whether or not you’ve created the right goal for yourself in the first place. For me, I was trying to reach a number on the scale by a certain time period. Was the number too ambitious for the amount of time I gave myself? Since I took measurements, I was able to see that I was losing inches, which helps to reassure me that what I was doing was working. Plus, I can tell that my clothes aren’t as tight as they used to be. I know that my goal weight is attainable, so I’m going to extend the time period to two more phases, 1/14/17. That will allow me to get through the holidays without stuffing myself, but still allowing myself to enjoy the holidays too. If I still don’t reach my goal weight by that time, I will work to maintain the weight that I’m currently at, which can sometimes be just as hard. In 2017, I’ll create a new goal for myself so that I have something new and exciting to work towards! The key take away here is if you don’t reach the first goal you set for yourself, think about why that might be and change it a little to create a new exciting goal that works better for you and continues to motivate you. Goal setting is all about giving yourself something to look forward to.
Another thing to consider is that maybe there were roadblocks. Currently as I’m writing this I’ve been under the weather for the past couple of days and haven’t been following my meal plan as closely, and haven’t exercised at all. When I get sick or when I injure myself, I always feel guilty for not eating as clean or working out as hard as I do when I am healthy. The thing that I always have to remind myself is that illness and injury is temporary and I’ll be back at it in no time. Plus, I try to stay as close to my plan as possible, so that I’m not undoing all of the hard work. For instance, I’ve been eating more soup lately but have been choosing non-cream based soup, or I’ve been making it at home to make sure that I’m not piling on the calories when I’m so sedentary. As for exercise, I know that it’ll still be there when I am feeling better. I might try an easy hot yoga class tomorrow or do some light stretching at home. For injuries, I’ve learned that taking more time up front and not pushing yourself will allow you to heal much quicker than testing your body and seeing what it can take, that will only result in creating permanent or long lasting injuries. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to listen to your body and focus on what will help you get back to being healthier quicker.
If you’re feeling in the slumps about not meeting a goal, I hope you stay positive! Don’t forget that setting a goal is already a big step and working towards that goal is huge! Feel free to chat with me on goal setting if you’re not sure what goal you should be setting for yourself. FYI – These images were taken a year ago and are not from my Extreme Transformation journey. I will having some transformation pictures and pictures from my Cabo vacation soon 🙂
Quick Details
Photography – Rianon Stephens Photography | Oahu, Hawaii Photographer | Website | Instagram
Location – Waimanalo Beach, Hawaii taken in October 2015
Clothes – Haute Body | Website | Instagram | Facebook
Grey ‘Feels Like Om’ Tshirt – Feels Like Om | Website | Instagram | Facebook
ClassPass – Sign up for your first month and get $30 off with my referral code here!
CorePower Yoga – Sign up for Founding Black Tag Membership here! Website | Instagram | Facebook |
Quick Stats – Phase VI
.7 pounds gained (17.9 total pounds lost since day 1)
1 inch lost (22.5 total inches lost since day 1)
NEW overall goal – 2.1 pounds to lose in 6 weeks by January 14, 2016!
Be you, bravely.
The Foxy Kat
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