Is good enough good enough for you?

amsparky

Hey all!

I'm just curious...I've hit my goal weight and I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. When I go to the gym, I want to be a badass - you know, the envy of others and such. When I'm away, I'm relatively pleased with my progress. Thanks to the myriad of health issues I have, I'll never have a flat tummy, and the droopy skin is slowly getting better, etc etc.

I'm just curious, is good enough good enough for you? I have a full plate with two severely adhd kiddos that I have to keep on track and my teaching and my husband its curly buying the business he's been managing, so I have my hands full. But there's a small (ok, slightly fluffy) part that doesn't want to sell myself short.

Anyone else have this battle?

jayliospecky

I think I know what you mean. I go back and forth between feeling like where I am is "good enough" to thinking I'm just being wussy and I can definitely do better.

In a way, I think I have to accept myself and say that yes, where I am now is good. I have lost 73pounds and I have improved both my cardiovascular health and my muscular strength. I want to be happy where I am,but still keep pushing myself. It can be hard, because seeing the scale go down and having clothes fall off are really exciting rewards, moreso than the slow progression I see in weight-lifting, or in my running pace.

So my plan is to keep doing better, but to try not to attach all my feelings of success to that number on the scale.

MyOwnSunshine

I get what you're saying too.

As good as I get, and as hard as I work, I will never look like a fitness model on the cover of a magazine. In order to look the way I want (or think I deserve) to look, I will definitely need to have plastic surgery to remove the extra skin around my middle.

I resolve this at the gym by knowing that I'm probably the hardest working woman in the weight room, and have made more progress than anyone else I know in the last 2 years. I think THAT is good enough for me.

I do think good enough is enough, as long as I keep getting better. I'm committed to this for a lifetime, so as long as I keep improving, that will be good enough.

jayliospecky

So, I just went over to facebook, and I follow this chick "Fit Villains" (Chichi Kix) who posted on what I would say is pretty much on this exact topic?


"Love this...

You'd be stunned by the amount of times I've heard "my pants feel smaller, I'm seeing inches lost, I'm doing everything right... but the scale's not going down. What am I doing wrong?"

Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Except maybe the idea that "success" comes with a certain number. An arbitrary number. Something you decided, not your body.

I weighed myself recently (almost never do), and I'm almost exactly the SAME weight I was when I was 7 sizes larger. My body composition has changed, but still. If I was still trying to get to the goal weight I had in mind, the decisions I make (that are WORKING for my body mind you) would be put on the backburner. I'd be focusing on eating less, doing hours of cardio, and wouldn't be nearly as excited about ALL the wicked stuff this body can DO... because it wouldn't be good enough. It wouldn't be at the number I WANTED, even if I was doing everything great. ANNNND, from past experience, chances are the body I'd end up with wouldn't be what I had in mind anyways.

That's why having more than just one way to measure your "progress" is so important... and so is giving each measure equal attention & credit. If the scale's not going down BUT you're...

- losing inches
- feeling awesome
- stronger
- healthier
- more confident
- feeling good in your own skin (or psuedo skin like clothing)
- better at "life"

That's awesome. That's GOOD. That's enough."