I used to feel discouraged when all week long I stuck to the food and exercise plan that I was on and didn’t see the scale budge or feel my jeans fitting any better. It’s easy at this point to want to give up and just quit!

But….Wait….Stay with it! Keep your head up and keep going! No one ever won anything, fit into their skinny jeans, or reached any of their goals by quitting! It takes time to see results and changes in your body from diet and exercise. It took me years and many food and exercise experiments to really find out what worked for me!  And believe me…I’m still experimenting.

You Mean I Won’t Always See Results Right Now?

Experimentation takes patience and knowing that results aren’t going to happen over night.  I know and it sucks, I wish I had better news for you!  I’m the first person in the world who wants results when I try something new RIGHT MEOW, and I hate when people tell me things aren’t going to happen right away and that it will take time….Aaaaaahhhh, you just want to throw a little temper tantrum and act like a 2 year old when you hear those words, right?!

The PROCESS & the JOURNEY are Where the Magic Happens

But, what if I told you that you won’t enjoy fitting into those skinny jeans without getting EXCITED about the PROCESS to get there!  Have you ever felt satisfied with something that was easily given to you?  Think of it like dating…you always want the ones that you have to work hard to win over their affection, not the ones that easily fall in love with you.

I think this same principle applies to achieving our health and fitness goals as well.  If you do some extreme diet and exercise plan that easily gets you to your goal, most likely you are going to feel like you don’t deserve it, and sabotage yourself right back to your starting point.

However, if you have to earn those skinny jeans, that PR lift, fitness or weight loss goal, you will feel like you deserve your success and will do anything to hold on to it (if you feel satisfied) or keep improving (if you want to do something else).

We have so much more satisfaction with the journey not the end result!  I mean, let’s all admit it….we like being a little frustrated and struggling with something we really want.  It’s part of our human nature, I guess.  It’s during the PROCESS, that you get to do and really learn about YOU and what you came here to do!

A perfect example of the Process:   A couple of years ago, I was doing the Healthy Habits Program created by my friends, Daniel and Alicia.  I bought a pair of skinny jeans that were about a size and half too small!  I couldn’t resist because they were such a great price for a name brand (a common problem for Marshall’s and TJ Maxx shoppers).  So, I decided to make it my mission to fit into them in 3 months.  I did this by trying the jeans on once a week to see if they were fitting any better, taking progress pics with them on every six weeks, and by taking bi-weekly circumference measurements.  At the same time, I was practicing a lot of new habits related to health, exercise, and lean eating that I was being held accountable to through an email/online program.

The Results of the Process:  At the end of about 3 months, I was able to wear those jeans to Alicia’s birthday party, and I felt great!  But, not because the jeans fit, but because I had learned so many things that come into play to accomplish my fitness and nutrition goals.  During this 3 month process, I had to learn and experience patience, consistency, mental ups and downs, learning what foods and activities that I needed to give up in order to get what I wanted, foods that worked for me & didn’t work for me, trying new things with my exercise routine, and feeling comfortable in the day to day grind!  It was the process that taught me the keys to being more fit and able to maintain the physique I wanted, not the jeans!

I Don’t Fit Into Those Jeans Anymore and That’s Okay

The point is, those jeans are back to being too tight for me, and I probably wouldn’t wear them in public!  I decided that wearing those jeans isn’t that important for me right now because I would rather be about 5-8 pounds heavier, but enjoying social eating and drinking a little more!  I had to be a lot more structured and regimented with my exercise and eating routine to maintain a more leaner physique, and right now, I don’t have the energy to deal with all of that, since there are some other things in my life that I need to focus more attention on right now.

I will tell you that it was a little uncomfortable getting comfortable with being okay with being a little heavier, but happier.  You might find that is true for you, too.  In the end, what you and I have to do is honor what feels right for us to do!  I still look and feel great in the next size up in my jeans!  The size of my skinny jeans doesn’t define who I am, but the PROCESS  I went through to fit into them does!  The awesome thing is that I get to take all of the healthy habits that I learned during that PROCESS and keep applying it to my future goals or with helping other people reach their goals!

Can You Get Excited about Your Process?

So, how about changing and switching your mindset a little bit here with me?  How about getting EXCITED about the PROCESS of  fitting into those skinny jeans, hitting a new PR in the weight room, running that 5K, or finally achieving the number on the scale you have always wanted?  Do you think you can try it with me?  Remember, our mindset is something we have control of, but we have to be aware and make conscious decisions everyday to choose what our mindset is going to be.

[bctt tweet=”Let’s learn to TRUST the PROCESS and get EXCITED about our fitness journey! “]

It’s okay to make mistakes, or make choices that work for us or don’t work for us.  Take comfort and satisfaction in the fact that you are learning everyday through taking consistent action what is working best for you and that everything will fall into place!

I feel it’s also important to point out that exercise and eating healthy should make us feel good and energized! If you feel deprived, tired, HANGRY, body is aching from the exercise that you are doing, or you are binging out of control, then it is time to evaluate your plan and try a more moderate approach!

Let me know how the PROCESS is going for you here in the comments below!

Thanks for stopping by,

Tommie

P.S.  Tired of not knowing what to eat?  Grab a FREE Copy of my Lean Eating Guide HERE to help get you started!  It has Quick and Easy Tips to Follow at Every Meal!