Remember Your Why

I have been feeling a little discouraged lately. The holidays are over, I did not stick to my eating plan like I should have and although I did not gain any weight over the holidays, I only lost about a pound.

And then today, I saw this quote and reminded myself why I began this journey to fitness in the first place. Earlier this year, my mom had, what the doctors called a stroke, that was brought on by high blood pressure. I love my family dearly, but have learned bad health habits from them while growing up. Food has always been a stress reliever for me and I have always gone to food when I want to feel better or want to feel happy. In September when I started the 21 day fix, I was so excited to be learning how to eat the right foods, the right portions and healthy habits. I recognized that I was feeling better, had more energy and was losing the extra weight I was carrying around. I loved how I was feeling and the results I was getting and was so excited to share it with others. 

Then the holidays came...I have a huge responsibility right now with my church that takes a lot of time and energy. I also have 4 little kids at home, a husband, a part-time job and a house to take care of, not to mention my new Beachbody business I was trying to start. The stress of everything piling up on me was huge and I started slipping back into my snacking habits with the kids.  But then really great thing happened. I started feeling tired and I was getting headaches and I was sluggish with my workouts. And then a few days, it hit me why I was feeling this way. I was not eating like I had just learned how to eat. I was feeling this way because I was not fueling my body the way I had learned. The slip ups I was making were not huge, but my husband would bring home donuts or the neighbors would drop off holiday treats and I would have one. Or I would have Goldfish crackers with my kids during their afternoon snack. I say this is a good thing, because I needed that little realization  to kick me back into the good habits I had developed. I needed a couple steps back to remember how good it feels to eat healthy. And I remembered why I started this journey to begin with. To make me and my family healthy and happy.  So don't get discouraged if you have to take a few steps back as long as you correct your course and take the steps forward again.