Momentum Makes all the Difference

A combination of factors led to abandoning the gym and letting my diet get away from me for the past months. As a result, I've gained back a bunch of the weight I lost last year.

A big part of it was that I was prioritizing music, which involves lots of hanging around till sunrise in boozey nightclubs, obviously not the environment for nurturing a healthful, active lifestyle. But I'm happy with my trombone playing again, and so it was worth the price (though I do feel saddened that my high school jeans no longer fit). I've found that it's incredibly difficult to make more than one dramatic change in your life at a time. Change requires focus, and I've been focused on music above all else.

As of this week, though, I'm back on track. I've put in hard workouts for four days in a row, and stuck impeccably to my diet. Which means I'm now at the awkward point where, in spite of a feeling of accomplishment, nothing tangible has happened yet. Not one pound has been sheared off and no belt buckle hole has been hurdled.

But here's the thing: if I keep doing what I'm doing, things will improve. This is in stark contrast to last week, when if I'd kept doing what I was doing, things would have worsened. That's huge. And, expressed like that, it's enough to sustain me.

I'm not a fan of scales. If you step on a scale and see a number you dislike, there's literally nothing you can do about it. It's out of your power to move that number. You have the power to make choices of actions which will lead to the number moving, and that's all. So I keep my attention on my immediate choices, and let the number take care of itself.

And, with that perspective, it's an incredible boon to know that momentum is your friend and not your enemy....regardless of current results!