The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Oxygen Network. All opinions are my own.
It’s that time again! Are you an emotional eater? Were your parents your role model for health and nutrition? Check out this sneak peak from Oxygen’s My Big Fat Revenge and tune in tonight at 9pm EST.
Giveaway {Closed}:
Leave a comment telling me about a time you felt discouraged while attaining the goal of bettering yourself.
One winner will receive the following ($500 value).
- (1) $150 Whole Foods Gift card
- (1) Fitbit ($100 value)
- (1) $100 AMEX
- (1) $150 Lulu Lemon GiftCard
The giveaway is open to US residents only and will be selected randomly from the comments. Giveaway open until October 28th. Winner will be announced in my My Big Fat Revenge finale post on October 29th.
I finally started running this spring and after a great couple of months and working up to 4 mile runs a few times a week, I hurt my knee. I was so bummed, all I wanted to do was run! After two months of sulking and feeling bad for myself, I sucked it up, got back to the gym, and found out that I really don’t mind the elliptical! It will have to do until my knee heals.
I’m currently going through this. I had my first baby in May 2013 and returned to work in late July. I used to have a great passion for fitness and fit it into my schedule daily. Now, I struggle to do much more than walk even though I’d very much like to get back in shape post-baby. I work for a University and they recently moved our employee gym more than a mile off-campus. Since parking is scarce and I like to leave the office on time to get home to relieve the babysitter and care for my new baby, I can’t work out a way to get over there. It’s really frustrating and discouraging, especially because they did not ask us how we felt about it and essentially ignored all of our complaints about the location. Here it is October and I’m still trying to figure out how I can develop a regular exercise routine that makes sense for my time and finances and won’t leave me feeling guilty as a new, working mom.
I sometimes get people who tell me that I’m starting to look masculine because of my hard earned muscles in my arms. It’s discouraging to me because I love them and, frankly, I want them to keep growing! I don’t understand why people feel the need to voice stuff like that aloud, or really why they think it at all. If they don’t want muscles, then they shouldn’t get them for themselves, but I love them and I’m happy with them.
I’ve always had bad feet that hurt but could power through it and do whatever I wanted to anyway. I starting running a few years ago and have big goals in running, like a sub 2 hour half which I nearly ran last year. 5 months ago I hurt my left foot, making my already bad foot worse, and haven’t been able to run since. I’ve actually been in a walking cast for 4 weeks (comes off today). I’ve been discouraged about the possibility of not running. I’ve been discouraged about the long road to recover and get back to where I was and worry that’s not in the cards.
I’ve been dealing with hormonal issues for nearly 2 years now since getting off birth control for health reasons. I’m only 22 years old, so it has definitely been a struggle for me with weight gain and acne. But, things are slowly getting better over time so I’m trying to stay positive and keep reaching towards my goals of losing weight and getting fit 🙂
After having 2 children I felt very little motivation to do any exercise, sometimes not even leaving the house if I could help it. I tried exercise classes but was always so embarrassed by my lack of core strength. Our family moved to a very fitness focused community last year and I have just started venturing out to find the exercise that was the best fit for me. So far real kickboxing training has helped me get over my lack of core strength, probably because the women in class are in the same boat as me.
Watching that video I got a little teary eyed for her when she said what her producer said to her. What awful things to say. When I do something that works against my goal rather than for it, I get sort of discouraged and down on myself. But then I just try to lift myself back up and not let it turn into a bunch of decisions that work against my goal too. Normally it’s bad eating choices for me.
When I signed up to do my first-ever half marathon for charity back in 2005, my grandmother’s response to my donation request was, “You’re just doing this because you’re fat.” This is the same grandmother who, on a previous visit with my then 10-year old son and I, insisted on buying cookies “for my son” that he politely and apologetically kept saying he didn’t want – to the point of tears.
She wanted them, but even in her advanced age, she could not own her food issues.
As a child, I wasn’t empowered to say no – in fact, it was an insult if I did, and I was made to feel guilty if I turned down food from my grandmother. Sadly, she passed recently, but in many ways, the scars remain.
In 2006, after the conversation with my grandmother – and this time while training for my first full marathon – I called my mom to tell her how excited I was that though I was dealing with a hip injury, I’d aqua jogged (run in deep water) for the timed equivalent of 18 miles!
I ended up sharing my excitement with my step-father before my mom came to the phone. His reply? “I want to ask a personal question – how are you doing with your weight problem?” And in the background, my mother was saying, “Don’t ask her that way. Ask how she’d doing with Weight Watchers.”
Problem was, I wasn’t enrolled in Weight Watchers at the time.
My marathoning “career” started in 2005 when I was in my 40s, and continues today, just two weeks before my 52nd birthday. In fact, I will return to the course of that very first half marathon I did back in 2005 this Oct 20 – this time as a marathon COACH. Yet, as recently as two days ago, with a full marathon, nearly 20 half-marathons and two 200-mile Ragnar Relays completed, I was asked, “YOU are a marathon coach? But you don’t actually RUN the races, right?”
It seems that every time I chip away at the excess pounds, or cross another finish line, hurtful words like these creep into my psyche, and have the power of setting me back.
Fast-forward to last fall, 2012: I was stalked and harassed by two separate men at two separate stores ON THE SAME day – with BOTH of them following me in their cars to my next destination, all under the guise of trying to “pick me up” – very frightening and not at all the kind of attention I want or deserve, even if meant as a twisted acknowledgement of attractiveness after loosing weight.
I’d lost 25 lbs, and was feeling very good about my progress, but the negative attention I received derailed me yet again.
I was laid off about a month after that – last Nov 30 – and I have been fighting being sedentary, the onset of menopause, and so much more ever since.
Now, nearly a year later, I’m about 10 lbs. away from loosing that same 25 lbs AGAIN. I’m fighting to loose the pounds I’ve re-gained – walking, running, coaching, Samba-dancing, strength training and taking yoga classes, working out six or seven days/week, and eating “close to the ground” once again, nearly eliminating all processed foods from my diet. And I am strengthening my emotional health this time, determined not to let someone else’s words derail my progress and ultimate success.
I’ll still be about 28 lbs from my ideal weight when I meet this interim goal, but I WILL NOT QUIT. My health – emotional and physical – is too important to stop now!
Thanks for allowing me to share.
Good luck to all!
Well, I’ve been feeling discouraged recently in my weight loss journey. I’ve lost 38 pounds but am now at a standstill. Plateaus can be so frustrating!
I’m currently in a rut with my fitness routine. I try to walk and do yoga, but I can’t seem to get myself to do anything more strenuous. I need to engage myself in a strength training routine and work on some more intense cardio. Motivation needed!
I’ve been feeling frustrated lately in my weight loss endeavor. I’ve lost 38 pounds so far but am now at a standstill. Plateaus are the worst!
I feel discouraged right now. Despite my best efforts, a crazy busy work schedule makes it incredibly hard for me to focus on cleaning up my eating. I’m doing well at working out, but all the crap I’m putting into my body is negating the good stuff.
I went on this extreme diet and was only losing half a pound a week. It just didn’t work out and I was bummed. Later learned that I have to fuel my body for exercise and now it’s all straightened out.
starting beauty school; i felt i was not quite talented in this field and the school i chose was not that great. i had to work hard to achieve my goal of graduating.
jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com
Oh gosh – well in 2006, I got very sick for an entire year. I finally got better and started working out in 2009. Got sick again for a few months. SO discouraging especially when this is my passion! Thanks for the blog post!
I recently moved across the country with my boyfriend for his job and thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for me to finally start my own business. Things were slow going for the first two months but I was working towards my dream. Just a few weeks ago, a family member and I had a disagreement that escalated beyond the original problem and bled into personal issues. He told me that the only thing I was good for was cooking and cleaning (and hardly even that mind you.), that my business would never get off the ground, and that I was destined for a crappy life. These things hurt, but I’m determined not to let it get the best of me and keep striving for the tings I want.
Most often I cause my own discouragement with negative self talk. I have to remember to think positive and push through the negativity. At times I can make bad food choices or decide not to exercise.
Late last summer, I decided that I HAD to lose weight. I was 320 lbs at 5’10”. I am not sure why this time was different than all the other times, except perhaps that number REALLY scared me. Over the course of 9 months, I dropped down to 245 lbs. It was May, I CONSTANTLY got told how awesome I look. Then I went on vacation with my husband to Vegas.
I may be back from Vegas, but apparently, I am not back from vacation. Luckily, I am still 250 lbs, I didn’t gain it all back, but in the last 5 months has been the same game of losing and gaining back the same 10 lbs. It is getting ridiculous.
While I feel a lot better than 70ish lbs ago, I am still not at a healthy weight. It is very discouraging to not be able to get back on track. I am hoping that winning a fitbit would help!
I get discouraged when I can’t run as far as I could a day earlier.
Staying motivated and encouraged has always been an issue for me. I feel like I’ve lived my whole life on a “diet”. I’m not sure why I can stay with something for months and then revert back to my old habits.
Today, I skipped my exercise session because of emotions dealing with the government shut down. My husband is a full time Airman with the Air National Guard but unfortunately, he’s not considered the “military” so he was laid off, without pay. I’m freaking a bit right now but hoping I get things back under control soon. I know that tomorrow…I’ll be back on track and will take my anger out within my workout instead of skipping a second day.
Ahh yes. I was eating healthier, and then my gallbladder gave me problems and I didn’t eat well (or at all) and I didn’t exercise. Then, after having my gallbladder out I was inactive for such a long time I gave myself a muscular disorder! It’s hard to keep trying to improve myself, but I gotta keep going!
Having fibromyalgia, I have a lot of days where I just don’t feel well enough to give it my all when I work out. I get super frustrated because in my head I really want to go for a run, but my body doesn’t want to cooperate most of the time.
I often feel discouraged while training for a race, but I think half the battle is picking yourself back up again and continuing to fight!
Earlier this year I was competing for a bikini competition. I was focused and I was following my plan, but I constantly compared myself to others and wanted to give up because I didn’t feel like I was making an progrees and I didn’t look like the other women. Lots of tears were shed, but I forced myself to finish. At my competition I still didn’t feel confident, but being surrounded by all the women I competed with reinforced that anythign is possible and that I have learned a lot of things on my journey to the stage.
I felt discouraged going into all of my half marathons. Trusting in the process and just believing I could do anything was what got me through to the finish line each time 🙂
Another Spoonie with Fibro here. I used to be very active (running, riding, martial arts, etc.) but over the last 20 yrs, have been struggling to get back on the horse (almost literally in some cases!) with fitness. All my joints hurt, every day, and muscle aches and fatigue joined the club after several years of idiopathic joint pain. Every attempt at exercise ended with me being bedridden for days or weeks, and after a few years of this, I lost hope that there was any way for me to be fit and strong with this mystery illness (this was before my diagnosis). I was depressed for a few years, and sort of in denial as well.
I finally accepted that there’s no way for me to perform at the levels I used to (and that wasn’t even all that advanced!) but that every little bit I can do is good. So I’ve moderated my routines to something manageable: lots of short walks, a bit of elliptical work, etc.
Last fall I was in an accident (other driver’s fault) that injured my back and neck. I was finally released to start running again in late December. I was building up my endurance when I broke my ankle (fibula) in March on a trail run. After surgery and 13+ weeks of recovery, I am once again working on building my endurance. It’s been a long year.
I’m not really a runner, but I set a goal to run 100 miles a month to attempt to become one. I wanted to lean out, build cardiovascular endurance, and have motivation to exercise outdoors. It was really difficult for me to get up every day and run, working out felt like torture. Eventually, after about 2 months, I gave up on running and turned to kickboxing and yoga…I’m so glad I did because I actually look forward to exercise and feel myself getting stronger rather than rushing through a certain number of miles while ignoring strength training.
I was in yoga teacher training and the books we were reading and discussions we had made me take a long look at my priorities and how I was living my life. I became depressed and dealt with all of the emotions that were coming to the surface with food. I quit running and gained weight. At a time in my life when I was trying to better myself, I was at the lowest I had ever been. With lots of hard work and learning about letting go and acceptance, I was able to overcome that low point and I feel like a new person today.
I feel discouraged a lot. For example today I want to take a walk with my dogs but my energy is so low and my hips hurt so much that I can barely get up. Lyme Disease does that to you. I try to stay as active as I can and not let the pain and fatigue take me down too much but it’s a fine line between keeping active and fit and overdoing it and ending up in lots of pain.
All the time! lol One example is with my health / diabetes 🙂 Working on a healthier diet and getting more exercise, only to find that it had barely made a difference at my next doctor visit! My lab work was almost the same as before I started! Seemed like I’d really been doing all that work for nothing, but I know that things take time and I’m hoping that there will be more of a difference the next time I visit the doctor 🙂
Right after I had my daughter I went out for a ONE MILE run (after six weeks clearance). I stopped 5 min in and cried. I felt all jiggly, slow, and out of breath. I slowly but surely finished that mile and every run since then I pushed through and got easier. But dang that 1st run was soooo sad!
I had a long bout of discouragement in my journey toward health when I moved from Seattle to South Florida. It wasn’t really what I wanted to do, and when I moved here I became pretty darned depressed. I had been on a great weight loss path prior to moving, and when I moved here, I allowed my depression to get the best of me; cue emotional eating. I put on 30 pounds. After three years of holding on to the weight and using food to mask my unhappiness, I have slowly been climbing my way out of both depression and emotional eating issues. This feels so vulnerable to share, but also feels good to share as well. Thank you.
My struggles with anxiety have definitely caused a few setbacks in my personal, career, and fitness goals. I have had to stop and slow down several times to cares for myself and these symptoms when I would have rather “powered through” or been “stronger”. We all need time for self care and to understand that we have limitations
I have been training to qualify for Officer Candidate School. Many people who I thought would be supportive of me have not been. It’s very discouraging to train for something so difficult without the full support of my friends and family.
I often feel discouraged when I do not see results. I just have to remember that hard work, dedication, and consistency will get me there! I also have to remember to compare myself to who I was yesterday….. NOT other people!
What an AWESOME giveaway, thank you for the chance to win!
Staying motivated after a setback seems to be theme I have – the clearest example for me is when I was taking college classes at night and working during the day – I ended up getting laid off in the last big economic downtrend and got really depressed because I wasnt sure how I was going to pay for school and my bills. I ended up getting some part time work that got me through, however I remember point of being super discouraged during the journey. Now I remember that time and I am grateful I kept going since I graduated and Im doing what I love
I’ve been really working to improve my yoga practice and finally challenge myself after practicing for 6 years. The reason I started to get serious is because a friend of mine (who I hadn’t seen in years) asked about my yoga practice and was shocked when I said my hips were still too tight to do double pigeon. She said that after this many years of practice, that should come easy to me. I felt very discouraged, but I let that fuel my desire to help my body be more open and I have become so much more passionate about yoga and accepting of my body (and accepting the fact that double pigeon will always be difficult for me, not matter how much I practice!)
demureprincess7(at)gmail(dot)com
I was very discouraged after I got so sick that I couldn’t work out and so got back out of shape when I had been in previously decent shape. I’m working up to it again but it sucks when you cant work out and have to start back at the beginning.
I find that prohibitive costs is what holds me back the most. The price of yoga classes or bootcamps is the most discouraging thing. Sure, I do things like go for a run by the beach, but I’d like to deepen my yoga practice. I do an online program but it’s sooo not the same. I can relate with another commenter. Anxiety is a life killer- from personal peace, to career, relationships, education- however fitness is the one thing anxiety doesn’t get the better of me.
I felt discouraged trying to lose weight after having my second child. It took me 5 years to finally lose 10 of the pounds I had gained. I have 10-20 pounds to go, but realize if I combine diet and exercise, it is possible… I just can’t do one or the other unfortunately.
I started running because I wanted to get into shape and it was the cheapest easiest way to workout. Now I love running and am inspired by being a good example for my family!
I felt discouraged when my daughter’s dad told me that I’d never finish my master’s degree. I took that anger and defeated feeling and used it to make myself stronger and I did finish my degree program and am thankful every day for committing myself to finish.
I felt discouraged when acquired I knee pain from running on an incline on treadmills. Now that my knee is better, I have just started to work full-time and also went back to school so I have little time and energy to continue working out. It’s hard to go to the gym when you have so many things on your plate that you can’t seem to ever finish…Also, when my mom sees me, she often greets me with, “Have you gained weight? Either that or she says, “You look the same.” What is it with Asian moms and weight? My BMI is within normal limits. I am just not stick thin. I am learning to ignore her distorted standard. I hope I can incorporate exercise into my schedule again.
I got discouraged as I really wanted to run faster, but my asthma wouldn’t allow it, just as I started to improve I got injured, now I feel like I am back to square one, but I know I can do this and I will complete my half marathon
I’ve definitely had my far share of weight changes, but a way I use to keep motivated is by maintaining my current pants size. I dont really care the number per say, however I hate going shopping for pants! It is so hard to find a pair that is not too tight, not too gapping at the waist and make me feel good. So when my favorite pair starts getting too snug, I kick my workout gear back into the groove and start eating more healthy to keep myself in the same pants (that took forever to find!!)
oops I didnt really answer the discouraged part – I meant to by saying that Ive had struggles with weight all my life and get discouraged when Im trying my best to eat healthy and workout – and the weight just keeps coming back – Thats another reason I hate shopping too!
I got discouraged when I got injured two weeks ago and am now unable to run the marine corps marathon this Sunday. Talk about bummed… I tried to contact someone about deferring until next year but they said it is too late.
I felt discouraged when I saw a picture of myself running a marathon and I looked so fat. Since having a baby I’ve had a hard time losing those last 10 pounds and I hate the way I look. It’s sad to think that I can think this even knowing I can run 26.2 miles but some days are harder then others.