It's not working!

  How many of us have started a fitness or weight loss program, and after a few days or weeks of HARD WORK, we find ourselves saying these words…”It’s not working!” Maybe we have dedicated ourselves to a new way of eating and working out.  We have planned, prepped, cleaned out, set everything out exactly as we are told.  Then for a few days we do really well with our new “diet” plan.  We are eating what we were “supposed” to eat, we are drinking our water, we are exercising regularly, and THEN we get on the scale…… The number staring back at us is NOT what we imagined it to be!  It didn’t drop!  Or at least it didn’t drop as much as we thought it would be at this point! We put in the work, we followed the “rules” and now all we feel is that it just isn’t working.  We feel defeated.  We feel sad.  We feel frustrated.  We feel like we want to give up….again. If you have ever been in this cycle – it’s time we change the way we are thinking, or we may just continue to be disappointed again and again.  This is no way to live.  Believe me, I have been there, I have done that, and it is frustrating!! Many times I have said those words out loud – “It is just not working!”. Maybe it’s not with working out or our weight loss – but maybe it is with something in our jobs, or our home, or a relationship…we want to throw up our hands and say “it’s just not working!   We have all said it, thought it, or may be thinking it right now. Take heart and let’s look to see what IS working in our lives!!  There is probably a lot more that IS working than isn’t working. But here is what I have found in my own struggles, I usually need to look to see what may be going on at a deeper level!  Usually my “issue” I am trying to fix or work through is caused by another thing that I have got to work through!  Example – “I want to get in shape or lose weight or eat better”.  Therefore I start to workout, change how I am eating, clean out my pantry, and do all the “right” things.  However, a stressful situation happens, I stop going to workout, feel the need to want to stuff my face when I am stressed, etc and I proceed to self-sabotage and fall off my get in shape wagon.   Been there?  Now, if I will figure out the WHY behind wanting to stuff my face or run away and hide, or whatever it might be – I find that often there is a deeper emotional reason, then I can get somewhere. I have to stop trying to bandage the problem, and instead I need to start to deal with the tough stuff!!  THAT is not always fun or easy, but I am telling you that it is the ONLY way to fix an “outside” problem. So, what does this look like?  It looks like asking myself questions like: “If I don’t go to workout, will I feel better or worse?” “What is overeating food really doing for me?” “What am I trying to accomplish by eating too much?” “What am I feeling inside that is causing me to want to self-destruct?” “Who am I and who do I want to be?” “What is driving me to eat when I know I am not hungry?” “Is this path of life working for me?” “What am I focusing on that is causing me to get off track?” “What can I do to make a new path instead of running into the same brick wall all of the time?” Write down your answers, and think through what is really going on!  If you are like me – you may find that the answers to these questions can help you to fix some of the outside things you are trying to accomplish. These things I mentioned are things that I have done in my life to find freedom in many of the areas I have struggled with in the past.  I am not a psychologist, but I will tell you that my struggles were REAL and this was the only way that I could get out of the pattern and bad cycles I found myself in for years!!!!  I can now feel freedom from learning more about myself and making better choices because I am seeing things differently!! Focusing up on Him instead of at the problem!  So, if you are feeling like things aren’t “working” in your life, (whether it be your workout program, your weight loss, your food intake, or anything), instead of continuing to try things and getting frustrated when they aren’t working or bringing the results we want, let’s see if we can get a little deeper so that we can gladly say -“IT IS WORKING”!  Sound nice?  I think so!!! –Rachel Curtis P31 Fitness founder   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCg099Q2_hM&lc=z12qexjymviqspuar04cclmojpvpidnw1s40k]]>