Fitness Friday: Progress--Not Perfection

My first Boot Camp group in a while is officially kicking off on Monday.

For the first time in a while, I will be doing the program along with them. All 21 days.

The last time I worked out 21 days straight was back in November--the last time I completed 21 Day Fix. I lost almost 10 pounds and about as many inches. I felt like I was on top of the world.

But then I did 60 days of Insanity Max: 30. And after 60 days of IMAX:30, I had all the best intentions of completing 21 Day Fix EXTREME.

I made it three days, and then I started floundering. In my fitness goals, my personal goals, my business goals--everything. I'd work out a day here, a day there. I stopped being consistent. I'd skip meals. I'd eat the wrong things at the wrong times (even if it felt right--WRONG). I had totally stopped making progress, and in some instances, I started setting myself BACK.

Months of going, going, going, I was burned out and s-t-u-c-k. And it was terrible.

After some careful thought and prayer, I finally have my groove back and I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

My first step?: rediscovering my why.

What was I working towards, anyway? I had to remember my "why."

It wasn't because "everyone was watching" (although that's what I was telling myself).

It wasn't because I was trying to prove something to anyone else (even though that's how I felt and still do feel some days).

It was about doing it for ME.

I wanted to be healthier for my family. That is my entire reason right there. I flashed back to the 220-lb. version of me at Disney World, with tears in her eyes from the pain and discomfort she was feeling on what should have been an amazing day for her family, and gently reminded myself that that EXACT moment embodied my entire reason why.

Why I decided to push play on my first program.
Why I decided to pay it forward.
What ultimately led me here, to create a community for women that embodies healthy minds, bodies, and spirits.

I stopped caring about my progress to that better, healtheir version of me, and instead was focusing on doing it all, perfectly. For other people. And while I appreciate and am honored the fact that my journey may inspire similar motivation for others, I had to shift the focus back to me. Shift just for a second.

Progress. There is the sticking point.

Here are a few definitions of the word "progress" from dictionary.com:

1. a movement toward a goal or to a further or higher stage

2. advancement in general

3. growth or development; continuous improvement

4. the development of an individual or society in a direction considered more beneficial than and superior to the previous level.

5. forward or onward movement

Movement.
Forward.
Advancement.
Growth.
Development.
Onward.

This speaks to me in so many ways. Instead of trying to follow every schedule perfectly, instead of making sure my business plan is perfect, instead of worrying over whether or not my house is perfectly tidy...I should be focusing on forward momentum.

Making a conscious decision to get healtheir isn't easy--nor is the journey to get there an easy one. My progress is not the same as someone else's--but isn't that the key? That I continue to make progress?

My personal fitness goal for myself starting on Monday isn't to hammer out the following 21 days and walk away a robot again. This time, I plan to allow myself some grace. Some patience. Some flexibility. I want to set the example for my boot campers that they aren't REQUIRED to be some sort of fitness maniac to participate in my boot camps. They made the first step forward to commit...the rest is about continuing forward motion.

Forward movement is my goal.

Progress, not perfection.