“WELL, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU FAILED. Now what?”
I know people have been harping on The Biggest Loser this season because of the child ambassadors or Jillian Michaels’ crazy training tactics. She’s tough and she’s mean but I like her. I mean, I would hate her as a trainer but she gets results and she pushes people beyond their limits. Or rather, what they think are their limits.
The first or second show in, she had a screaming match with one of the contestants and said this above line. The contestant was having a hard time because she was afraid of failing with the workouts, that they would be too hard and she couldn’t do them.
Congratulations.
You failed.
NOW WHAT?
I love that. Because I have failed. I have failed a lot, especially when it comes to healthy living. I think we can get stuck on those failures, it runs an endless loop through our brains as we remember all the different times we have failed with a plethora of different things. Workouts and eating and drinking and calorie counting and food journaling. On and on and on and on. I have failed so much.
Well, boo-freaking-hoo.
I failed. It happens. Congratulations to me. I have fallen off the wagon. I have binged. I have made plans and fallen apart. I have treated my body like crap.
I have failed.
But NOW WHAT?
What am I going to do now? How am I going to get back up and try again? That’s the key to all of this. Recognizing failures and setbacks but moving on. Not giving up because you failed once, twice, three times, or even twenty times. Moving forward, making action plans, figuring out what to do differently next time to turn that failure into a success.
One day, it’s all going to click. I can’t describe it, but it’s as if a sensor goes off in your brain and all those past failures, all those times you got smacked to the ground but stood up and tried again only to get smacked on the ground again… they lead to success. They are necessary, sometimes, to find success.
I tried over and over again to give up soda. I tried quitting cold turkey. Didn’t work. I tried slowly working it out of my life, baby step by baby step. Didn’t work. Until finally, things clicked. Something shifted in my brain where I suddenly got it. I am on Day 16 of my soda fast and holy hell, it is hard. I crave it. I want it. But I just don’t give in. Why? Why is this time different, when all those other times I gave in?
I don’t have the right answer. The craving to end my addiction to soda is greater than the craving to have soda. As much as I want it, I feel so much better about myself when I deny myself the craving. I feel strong and in control of my body.
I’m not doing everything right. In fact, I’m doing a lot more things wrong when it comes to healthy eating than right. But I will get there. Slowly. With failures rattling behind me. But I will keep pushing, keep fighting, keep trying.
Failures happen. It’s inevitable, no matter what we do. We’re going to slip up and make mistakes. The important part is to move on.
So you failed at something.
Congratulations! You are human.
NOW WHAT?
Starting Weight: 166.6 lbs
Current Weight: 164.2 lbs
Weight Gained This Week: +.4 lbs
Weight Lost Total: 2.4 lbs
That is awesome that you are staying strong and staying away from soda. It is really hard to give something up, especially when those around you are indulging in it!
Failing is totally human. It sucks and it is a bad feeling but we can learn alot from the mistakes we have made in the past. It really does sound like this time is different for you. Your attitude about the whole process is so great!!
I LOVE this line: “The craving to end my addiction to soda is greater than the craving to have soda.” Brilliant.
A lot of people have said it’s easier to focus on one change at a time than a whole bunch. That’s why a lot of New Year’s Resolutions fail, because people get overwhelmed with change. I’m glad you’re doing things one thing at a time, especially because you’ve had such a difficult time with quitting soda in the past. Focusing on this is what’s healthiest for you right now, and then you can move on to other issues once you have this conquered.
Good job!
Me too – that line is awesome, and inspiring! Love. It.
Congratulations Stephany – I love these posts. Like the line noted above, they’re inspiring. To err is human. If you learn from it, you’re exactly where you should be. 🙂 Keep on truckin’ lady – you’re a rockstar! 🙂
Awesome. I love this post because failing and being human… applies to more than just diet and exercise. It can apply to anything and I see it lining up with something current in my life. But you (or Jillian in this case) are right. Congratulations to me? Now what!?
“But I will keep pushing, keep fighting, keep trying.” Very inspiring, I hope I can do the same too.
That IS a good line. I completely agree that we have to pick up ourselves up and move on, failures or not. No one is perfect (and those who think they are, as far as I’m concerned, are totally delusional).
Oh Jillian, she’s such a bully, but she knows what she’s doing and saying! I think it’s great you’ve managed to stop drinking soda. That is very much how I felt when I cut meat out of my diet at this time last year. I craved it, but I knew I could supplement it in my diet and be healthy and it was a fantastic feeling- the feeling of NOT eating meat was greater than the cravings I had. It’s tough, but when you feel great about something like this, you know you’re on the right track.
Little successes like cutting soda are STILL successes, and eventually you’ll be able to add more and more to your list! I think you’re doing great and learning so much in the process.
I’m really trying to give myself more credit and stop focusing on everything I’m not doing. The truth is, soda was my biggest vice for SO LONG and to actually say I have gone this long without even a sip is incredible to me. It’s been one of those goals I keep adding to the list but never crossing off – and now I finally can! That’s so crazy to me!
I hear you about cravings. Every night after I have dinner, I think about what sweets I should have as a treat. It doesn’t matter how much sugar I have or haven’t had over the course of the day. Annoying.
Keep up the hard work!
YES. It’s amazing when you’re really, really ready and even though it’s hard, it’s easy…does that make sense?
YES! That’s exactly it! It is hard but then again, it’s just EASY to say no to the cravings.