The key to finishing what you started

I was one of the lucky souls who seemed to be immune from springtime allergies, but that all changed last week. On Tuesday, I couldn’t focus on anything except my congested nose and scratchy throat, so I had to leave work and walk a mile to Rite-Aid to buy some Claritin. This probably qualifies as nbd for people who routinely deal with seasonal allergies, but it sucked! What sucked more was that I was coming off a weekend filled with junk food and alcohol after celebrating my sister’s bachelorette party, and I didn’t have the health or stamina to burn it off.

These allergies resulted in spending a whole week away from the gym, and I felt like I gained five pounds during this time, despite the fact that I was extremely careful about what I ate and drank. I didn’t know that you can develop springtime allergies later in life, but apparently it’s possible. In fact, anything is possible, especially when it comes to finding your way back into eating and exercising better. We all go through periods where we stray for days, weeks, even months (or years), and that’s expected and normal, but the more you let that downward spiral continue, the harder it’ll be to come back.

I think the temptation to stay in the downward spiral actually comes from social media. How so? Social media is becoming a space where we joke about our laziness through memes and GIFs. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good meme (so much that I own the “What Do You Meme?” game), but let’s be honest for a minute. Isn’t it true that there’s almost an acceptance and encouragement of unhealthy behavior on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook these days? I don’t need to provide examples, because they’re probably already popping up in your timelines and feeds right now. I can’t make the laziness trend go away, but I can and will be that voice to stand up and say continuing to be lazy will not get you back to where you want to be.

By all means tag your squad when you find something funny, but also try encouraging them to join you in going for a walk or hitting a group fitness class together that you’ll both love. Make a healthy recipe together from Pinterest. If we all channeled just a little more energy into picking each other up and chatting about maintaining healthy habits, we would all look better and feel better about ourselves.

Jillian Michaels summed it up best in a recent Women’s Health article:

“You know that age old analogy: If you get a flat tire, would you get out of the car and slash your other three tires? No! You patch the f*cking tire and get back on the road,” she said.

So finally feeling well again, I set my alarm last night for 5:45 a.m. And I woke up at 5:45 a.m. ready to patch that tire. With sixteen consistent weeks of progress under my belt, I’m going to make these next six weeks count (click here to read about my breaking point when I knew I had to change). I crushed my strength training circuit today, and I’m ready to crush cardio tomorrow morning. No matter what level you’re at or what you’re working toward, YOU have the power to finish what you started—or the power to start completely new.

And most of all, YOU are stronger than the ones who choose to slash the other three tires.

~Remember to follow Fit by the Fork on Instagram~