It has been a while since I have been "active" on Spark people, well , at least as active as I was in the beginning. Boy, I was motivated and l lost weight and became healthier, and felt better about myself. I was tracking everything!!! even the sugarless gum I chewed.
I was doing ST regularly, mixing up my routines about every six weeks or so, relishing in the NSV when I would go to a store and try on clothes in a size I thought was mine, only to find that I needed a smaller one.
Then the cruise came and went, I gained some weight while aboard, but lost it fairly quickly because I got right back into my routine and the muscle weight I had helped me to shed weight more quickly.
I scheduled myself for some new goals. Gotta have something to strive for if the motivation is going to be there, (at least for me). I began training for longer runs in competitive races. My plan was not to win, but to finish injury free and with a respectable time. So, a new motivation was born. It's a lot easier to run faster and without injury if you are ten pounds lighter.
Had a ten miler in April, some local 8Ks, 5Ks and my annual 4miler through the summer of 2010, and then my first half in November. I continued to train through the ice and snow ridden winter for my next half in March of 2011.
Then, although I contemplated, albeit briefly, a full marathon, for some reason I decided I did not need to have that in my bucket list.
All the while, I still continued to exercise just about every day, but it was mostly cardio. The ST was taking a back seat. I would track some of my food, but not all of it, especially if I had "blown it" and then would go into that all or nothing mentality. And my weight reflected my lack of commitment to myself. It would go up and it would go down, and up and down and up and down, well you get the picture.

So now, after being on Spark People for more than two years, I have been able to keep off more than half the weight I originally lost, but I am still a fair distance from my goal weight. And yes, originally it was about vanity and feeling better and feeling better about myself.

Now with recent health issues which have evolved, it's more about my health. Which is what it should have been about all along. Everything I have read recently supports eating more fruits and vegetables, and less fats and less red meats in terms of me improving my health. And of course , that's what SP has been telling me all along. That's why many of the team challenges have rainbows of freggies as one of the goals to meet for a particular challenge. Changing one's diet and becoming more active and treating your body the way it should be treated by fueling it rather than stuffing it.

so if I am going to have to go through some medical treatments, shouldn't I work at being the healthiest I can be right now, so my recovery may be a little easier?

I am now recommitting myself to taking better care of myself. To tracking daily, to doing ST at least 3x a week, to eating more of a healthy variety of foods and to putting on the brakes when I choose to eat something which is less than ideal, with the knowledge that I can stop and it hasn't undone all the work I have done before.

What about you? If you are on a plateau, is it because you have lost your focus? Do you continue to lose the same 5-10 pounds month after month? Can you find something which will motivate you to taking better care of yourself? I challenge you to join me in recommitting to your goals, yourself and making the journey toward your goals more productive. Are you with me?