Are You Working Out But Not Making Progress?

Dear Boys and Girls,

If I had a penny for every email I receive from frustrated folks who swear they are following the program to the T, pressing play six times a week and eating mostly clean....I'd have lots of pennies. The place to look, I always say, is in the diet.

Whenever I've been frustrated with my results, whenever I've wanted to get leaner, I've always cleaned up my eating and gotten results.

But today, I write, not from my high horse of progress, but from the place of non-progress, if there is such a word.

I'm in my 7th or 8th week of P90X, and I can honestly tell you that while I haven't gained any weight, I haven't made any progress. Oh, kids, you know I'm not modest! I'm the first one to celebrate my progress! So, believe me when I tell you that I am, ughhh, at a standstill and ughhh, I accept 100% responsibility!

I have been pressing play six times a week and I give it pretty much my all in my workouts. Hey, I even came in 19 out of 117 women in my age group in a 5k race I signed up for the day before! So, yes, considering I haven't run since 2006, I guess that means that I am in pretty good shape.

And like those folks who write me, my eating has been "pretty good." What does this mean? Throughout the week, I eat super duper clean, but oh, the past few weeks, I've been slacking a little at night time, saying yes to a mid-week quesadilla in addition to my weekly cheat meal. Here and there I've allowed myself a little snack, a little popcorn, a glass of wine maybe. And guess what?

It's because of those little extra indulgences, those little tiny treats that we tend to write off with, "Oh, you only live once," or "It's just a a little treat," that I am not moving forward. I, yes, I alone am preventing myself from moving forward in my progress.

I have two choices. You have two choices.

I can clean up my eating, quit the mid-week treats, and keep making progress. This would mean that I would be super fit, but am I willing to give up all these little moments of sociability? That is the question! Is a super fit body more important to me at this moment than enjoying these treats with friends? (I stress that I'm not pigging out, just not eating as clean as usual. But this alone is impeding my progress.)

Or I can...

Continue to press play six times a week, but also continue with my "minor" indulgences here and there? I can do this, but at what cost? At the cost of not seeing more results even though I am leaving it all on the mat during my workouts. Can I live with that? Will being super fit give me a better sense of well-being than the quesadilla and wine?

Decisions. Decisions. Today I ate 100% clean and brought it with P90X 100%. Tomorrow I plan to do the same. I haven't made any decisions. I haven't decided that FOR NOW I'm okay with not making more progress...which must mean that I'm not okay with it. But, grrr, I haven't made up my mind as to what I'm actually willing to give up: more progress or quesadillas. Let's face it, sometimes it's really annoying to be human!

To be continued...

Your partner in this journey,
Barbie, PhD