Why I LOVE❤ to hate this Challenge

We started this challenge in June 2020, well into this pandemic. I didn't know what to expect. You know when you sign up for something and it looks fun at first, but let me tell you 30 days into this I was running for the exit (not part of the challenge). I remember cursing every minute of my first 5K run. I remember crying, itching, and every sore muscle, saying “Why did I start this?”. What you have to remember is “The beginning is always the hardest”.

Three months into the challenge I get on the scale and I am 30 pounds lighter! Yes, I lost 30 pounds in 3 months. I cannot tell you how overly happy I was to see that number on the scale. To feel my clothes hanging off of me and not digging into me. To see pictures in September of me that was totally different than the ones in June. I couldn't believe it, and I told everyone and anyone. It was the proudest moment that I had in a year that was so awful. It started as a walk, then a jog, then a run. It was the little step that I was taking and it paid off.

So you think the story ends there nope. Months 4,5,6 you would think that the weight would continue to fall and that in no time you will no longer be deemed obese and finally reach your target weight. Oh, no honey, your body adapts and what you've been doing is no longer enough. How can it not be enough? How many hours of exercising is it going to take for me to reach the finishing line? Then the frustrations and quitting seem way easier than another HIIT session. Lord knows that your knees and back will thank you. Then you remember why you started. How far you have come. You have to tell yourself one more workout, just one, more day!

Now we are in January well into 7 months, 231 days, and 1 hour. I just ran yet another 5K, trying to beat my personal best. But I will not lie. I get to the park or the gym at least one hour before and have to coach myself into the workout that I am about to begin. Halfway through the workout, I feel liberated, excited, and joyful. Saying to myself this will be a great workout. All that kicking and screaming for what. I am doing it, it can be done. To sum this up, I would have never known how much I would have succeeded if I never started. It is a struggle but the rewards outweigh the pain. That is why I LOVE to hate this challenge!