Days after obtaining this blogging space, as I struggled with the decision of at which point in time to start, a series of events fell into place that led to an eight week layoff of my efforts. I fell into a slump. Now I could lay out a bunch of excuses about how things at work are extremely demanding right now, and so on, but that’s all they’d be: excuses.
26 pounds later (just 9 away from my all-time heaviest), and not only do I feel like garbage physically, but also emotionally. There’s been some self-flagellation over all of this and, it could be argued, justifiably so. One year ago I tried a bulking experiment that went awry, resulting in a 24 pound gain (at least, with that one, a large portion of that was lean mass and I got to see my lifts shoot through the roof), and the frustrations and struggles I faced in trying to cut back down were not soon forgotten. So, in knowing how much more difficult it was for me to cut the fat I gained in such a short period of time, I allowed myself to let go for 8 whole weeks. That’s twice, shame on me.
We’ve all faced setbacks in our lives – we might even find ourselves considering the situation that brings us to this blog in the first place a setback – and we all know how easy it is to become consumed by them, wondering “Why bother?” and falling into a state of self-pity. But we know that the prescribed remedy for this ailment, and it usually involves a bunch of cliché adages.
Whenever I find myself facing a plateau or needing to refocus, I usually scrap everything I’ve been doing to that point and recalculate my nutritional needs or redesign my workout schedule. Even if my macros come out to what they already were, I find that working the numbers cleanses my mental palate and draws me back in; and even a slight tweak or change to my workout regime and spark new interest and ramp up my motivation. I’ve done both today!
How do you overcome the obstacles and stumbling blocks that sometimes get in the way? Whether you were knocked down or tripped over your own feet, do you have a routine you like to perform when dusting yourself off? What are some of your favorite sources of motivation?
“Be grateful for setbacks. They are opportunities for even more improvements.” – Lorrin L. Lee
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