So the past _ weeks have been a lot like this:

I left that space blank because when I looked it up I got really depressed about how long it’s been since I’ve felt entirely invested in my weight loss.

Last week I talked about how it was time to get focused again. I had a nice break and let myself indulge because I needed to put my emotional energy into work projects. But with my biggest event of the year behind me I was ready to go hard and get right back into making all the progress.

Anyone wanna guess what happened next? Just take a wild guess.

I got sick. I KNOW, RIGHT? Pretty sure we all saw that one coming.

I don’t have any idea what to call it but since Saturday I’ve had chronic dizziness. There are some other symptoms that come and go but it all adds up to me not actually jumping back into my “I’m so hardcore I do all the workouts and write down all the foods” plan as, well, planned.

I have no idea what I will see when I meet the scale tonight but I’m already preparing myself to ignore it if it’s not what I want to see – more on that later.

Still, I was here last week wondering how I could get myself motivated to start really working on it again. Almost everyone I know has said “Just do it” – and that’s partly true. You really just have to pick yourself up and force yourself to do it.

But everyone who’s been where I am now knows sometimes you need a push to get yourself off the couch. That’s basic physics, right? I have some goals – short and long term goals: get to the 25 pounds lost mark, be too small for my bridesmaid dress when it comes in July, and then of course that ever elusive ultimate grand supreme goal. But as much as I want those things, wanting them didn’t feel like enough.

It might sound weird, but as much as I want to achieve those goals they’re not always enough to inspire me to DO something. In the fight of what I want most vs. what I want right now – the “right now” side tends to win. And then I think about my goals and wish I’d made a different choice.

So how do I give myself that push? I’ve been thinking all week about this and I have a few things that are really inspiring me right now:

- Joining Challenges. For whatever reason I love the idea of a challenge. I’m not great at making it to the end, but I sure love the beginning and the initial rush of “I’m going to win!” is usually a good kick start. I’m not into things like DietBet that set your goals for you, but I do like those challenges that let you set your own pace. You all know I’m doing TWLC4, I signed up for one on Instagram that has kind of fizzled out, and I just joined one at work with my coworkers. I’d love to lead my team to victory but I’ll settle for gaining momentum.

- People Watching. I’ve started following people on Instagram who are also working on weight loss or have already lost a lot of weight. Adding those people to my blogging and Twitter friends who are working on weight loss has been really inspiring. I like the Instagram community because it’s (obviously) mostly visual and that makes me want to be able to post my own progress pictures and so forth.

- Recognizing Myself. I’m forcing myself to pay more attention to my own progress. I’ve already lost around 20 pounds this year. My clothes actually are fitting differently – even if they’re not yet fitting how I want them to, I can see a change. I really would like to see a more significant change but I have gotten better about recognizing what I’ve already done. I’ll say this until I turn purple – I don’t want to reach the end and still feel like what I’ve done isn’t “good enough”. Appreciating what I’ve done needs to start now and it really does help quiet that panicky voice in the back of my mind that says “You should be doing more.”

- Changing it Up. The thought of going back to the workouts I was doing before my little break was a major deterrent to me. I’d been doing an hour of cardio and breaking it up into intervals – which was great and not actually as painful as it sounds. But changing your routine from time to time is definitely a good thing and not just to keep your body from getting “used to” your workout. I’m adding more strength training to break up all that cardio and I find that if my pace is right it’s not hard to keep my heart rate in my target zone.

There are probably some other things I could add but they’re not coming to mind right now.

And that’s why I’m willing to ignore whatever the scale tells me today. Right now I’m feeling really excited and (dare I say it?) optimistic.  It’s a little creepy because I haven’t felt like this in a while but I’m gonna go with it.

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