Fit By ___

Not everyday and not every week, but every once in a while I want to simply throw my hands in the air and quit! I get tired of being “good” and I get tired of “restricting” myself.  At least that’s the words I use in my head.

Sometimes I just want to throw my hands up and say “E’ff this, I’m done!”

This often leads too mild or moderate deviations from my plan, an overall sense of apathy, and a sour attitude. This can be triggered by all sorts of things. Maybe it’s a bad weigh-in or an article of clothing not fitting “right” anymore. Maybe it’s a comment from someone or a look you received, which you then created a negative dialogue about in your head. Maybe you have depression and that just destroys all sense of progress, hope, and resilience.

Whatever it is or whatever happens, we all have these points where quitting seems like the best option… the only option.

Think about the times when you are stressed… what do we do? We try to minimize the things we are doing to create space and less stress.

I’ve come to the conclusion that if you are making changes and you don’t want to quit, then you aren’t making real change. why? Because change is difficult. It takes work… hard work. It affects other people and creates tension between you and people around you.

I don’t know about you, but when my stress gets high, I want to quit. This current season is like that for me. Not only is it the eating season, where people consistently bring AMAZING EATABLE DELIGHTS by work, but it’s also a HIGH stress time for me. Lots to do with high stakes. Since my default is to turn to food to medicate stress, this creates a perfect storm of events for me. Knowing that makes it easier to navigate now, but I still have days where the only option seems to be “this sucks and I’m done!”

There are two areas in which I fight to desire to quit. The fore mentioned one and in CrossFit. I generally quit CrossFit everyday… at the end of every hard workout. I also have been known to quit CrossFit in the middle of competitions only to be re-energized by the next event. This quitting is very different than the food stuff. The CrossFit quitting never lasts more than a few moments. For whatever reason, it’s different. In CrossFit I want the pain… I want to die… I want to Keep Going.

Here’s what I’ve concluded from these experiences.

1. If you don’t want to quit, you aren’t pushing yourself hard enough. You have way more to give!
2. If you don’t want to quit, you aren’t doing anything that’s difficult. You’re just playing games.
3. If you don’t want to quit, you doing it wrong and most likely doing it alone. Doing difficult things forces us to get help from others. Why? because it’s difficult! and we need help.

A couple of weeks back, I had a friend reach out and check in with me. I needed that! I was overwhelmed and trying to simplify my life. Food was not a priority and it was more than I could focus on at the time. We got together and talked. He helped me not only regain the ability to Keep Going, but also the reminder that I’m not alone in my fight. He’s someone who’s willing to walk with me and coach me along the way. He ended up writing me a food plan that will be less stressful and help me to stress less over it. He, once again, came to the edge of quitting cliff and sat down to help me not jump off. I can’t say enough good things about Jamie Free… the BEST Nutrition Coach in the WORLD… He’s saved and redirected my life more times than I can count.

I’m so very thankful for all the people in my life that allow me to lean on them when I want to quit. Who are your people?

Just remember to do hard things and remember that it’s normal to want to quit. Remember to lean on others and KEEP GOING!