Sometimes you gotta PUSH yourself!

I was planting daffodils yesterday when it occurred to me.

I ADORE daffodils.  I love everything about them.  Their beauty, their light scent, the fact that they are strong enough to emerge through the cold ground that was snow-covered just a few weeks previously....their hardiness despite the chilly April winds....and the fact that with all the hybrids developed, they now come in all KINDS of pretty colors and variations.  Including pink insides, some with ruffles, etc.!

So every year I order daffodils...usually in June.  That's when the big suppliers' catalogs come out, and the daffodils that I had have died down again, 'gone to sleep' until the next year (they appear first thing in the Spring, April/May).  And my goal is to cover my HILL
(we live on a hillside) with them LOL...
But they have to be ordered in June, for October/Nov. delivery. 
And they have to be planted in the Fall. 

So I order 'more' every year....because I have lots of room to plant them (once I get past the rocks LOL....!)  And also because the moles, groundhogs and other assorted creatures dig up some and eat them (they are quite the delicacy, apparently), so I lose some that way.

But every year, it feels like I order 'too many'.  When the package arrives I sigh....I don't FEEL like planting them, UGH why did I order so many.....?

But then I think about how beautiful they will look, and I get myself dressed in my junky jeans and my knee pads and my junky sneakers and my baseball cap and backbracing 'belt' and my gardening gloves (I look like a creature from another planet LOL)...and I go outside and start planting.  And at first, it's fun and kind of soothing....working in the ground....I love to garden.

But I get tired quickly and I can't get them ALL in the first day, so I stop and put the rest aside.

And then....the procrastination starts. 
Day after day I tell myself I have to get the rest of the daffodils in....and day after day I make excuses 'not' to.  It's too hot, or it's too cold, or it looks like it's gonna rain, or it's the weekend and the neighbors are all out and I don't FEEL like socializing (I like my
privacy when I garden)....whatever.  Excuses, excuses.
And days go by.  Weeks even go by.  And the box sits in my garage and I KNOW I have to get those bulbs in the ground or they'll go bad, sitting around like that. 

FINALLY I push myself to GET.IT.DONE.  And it takes every bit of strength to do it, because by this point I really really don't want to do it.  It's getting late in the season, anyway....I'm tired...!  My back hurts.  I just came from the gym. Etc. 
But I push myself. And I do it 'anyway'.  I tell myself to just do it and get it OVER with, already.

And a funny thing happens.  At first it's pure drudgery.  UGH.  All these rocks....sheesh.....my back hurts....where is my spade, again?  Where's a good spot...?

But pretty soon I start getting into it.  And the birds are singing and I'm outside in the fresh air -- and you know what?  I start to feel better!  In fact, I start to LIKE it!  I'm having FUN!

And I get it done. 
THERE.  I DID IT.  FINALLY! 

The empty box is like a victory cup to me....I joyfully pack up my tools, and go back inside, looking forward to the Spring when I'll see the fruits of my labors. 
(and believe me, I'm a happy lady every Spring when I see my daffodils in bloom!)

It's the same way with this program, gang.

You KNOW you have to do it.

You KNOW the results will be worth it. 

And at first, we start off all excited....place our first order, eagerly await it....we're so psyched!  We plan our meals, we watch that scale go WAY down that first week (the first week's weight loss is usually JAW-dropping LOL)....and we're 'hooked'.
We're gonna DO this!  We are going for GOAL!  On course all the way!  Woohoo!

....But then...over time, things happen.  We fall off the wagon for whatever reason.
One bite of a sugary dessert is all it takes sometimes. We're food addicts and sugar
addicts and once you go down that slippery slope, we're 'lost'. 

"One" always always always ALWAYS leads to more! 

And we're bingeing.  We've GIVEN UP.  We feel hopeless. 

HOW will you EVER get your mojo back?  Right?

The answer is....  It's just like my daffodils. 
I had to PUSH myself to get back in the game and finish planting them. 
It wasn't fun and it wasn't easy.
But I knew, once I DID it, I'd feel wonderful just for accomplishing it.
JUST FOR OVERRIDING my lazy side!  

In the case of the 5/1 it's the same thing. You get back on program by FORCING yourself to get back OP.  Simple as that.  You grit your teeth, you decide that tomorrow (or the next meal) you will be 100% OP and STAY there, and you do it. 
And it's hard.....I know it's hard.  VERY very very hard once you've 'strayed' because the ketosis headache comes back, the hunger comes back, all of it.

BUT KNOW THIS.

IF and WHEN you can get yourself back OP....just for 3-4 days...!!!!  You WILL get your mojo back.  Because ketosis WILL set in, and once it does?  The hunger dissipates.
It gets easier.  The scale cooperates.  You feel lighter.  You have more energy.  You've been OP for a couple days so you KNOW you can do this. 
You clean up your environment and you stay the course and suddenly.....WOW....! you're in a good place again!

THAT is key on this program.  I don't know ANYONE (if they're honest) who gets through this thing 100% OP every single day from start to finish.

It doesn't work that way.  It's more of a 3 steps forward, 2 steps back kind of a thing sometimes.  You WILL have times when you'll sail along....(and that's after you've fought the 3-4 day battle to get into ketosis)....and you'll STAY sailing along as long as you never ever ever eat off plan.  Because the moment you do?  It starts all over again.  It 'wakes up' Fat Brain.  Chemically we're addicted to sugar.  We really are!

I've seen that over and over again myself.  And I've finally realized, it's stay the course....or be miserable.  Those are my choices. 

So I choose ME.  I choose health and a slim, healthy body.

Those momentary 'twinges' you feel.....when you really feel 'hungry' and just want something else?  THAT'S YOUR WEIGHT LOSS.  Right there. 

When you're OP, every time you feel one of those twinges, those cravings, and you DON'T succumb, you can look forward to being rewarded....either with inches lost or pounds or both.  Or sometimes just with a renewed sense of purpose and a change in your habits for the better!

Don't worry about how long the entire journey takes.
And don't beat yourself up if you go off program.
Just KEEP picking yourself up and getting back OP, no matter how many times you have to do it....because it IS worth it, and every single time you'll learn just a little bit more and get a little bit stronger.
     
Keep on keepin' on!