A Hare one day ridiculed the short legs and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: “You might be fast, but I will beat you in a race.”
The Hare thought this was ridiculous and accepted the challenge.
Both the Tortoise and the Hare agreed to let the Fox decide where the race should begin and end and what course it should follow.
On the day of the race both the Tortoise and the Hare started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow and steady pace straight to the end of the course.
The Hare took a rest beside the racecourse and fell fast asleep.
When he finally woke up and resumed racing to the end, he saw that the Tortoise had already finished…and was now napping happily and comfortably.

While I think we would all agree that if the hare hadn’t stopped he would have most definitely won the race…….but it’s the hare mentality that did him in. It’s the hare attitude that can do us all in if we’re not careful. We must not stop!!!!!!!

Most times when we start a new program we shoot out of the gate just like the hare. We feel strong, we feel confident, we feel like we just can’t fail.

Along the way though, something happens, and we either get overconfident or we give up. Both have negative consequences. I’ve given up for too many times to count.

But if we become tortoises – if we simply MOVE and DO – we will finish strong!!!! It is not how fast we go or how quickly we see the number on the scale go down, but rather that we continue on whether our legs are short or long, weak or strong!!!

I shot out of the gate at the beginning of the FYM New Year Transformation Challenge. My first week was almost perfect.

But I am not a perfect person, and in retrospect I fear making too many changes too fast will set me up for failure. I won’t have the energy, the desire, the commitment, or the strength to carry on. I’ve tried to follow this plan to the letter so many times – so many starts and stops.

This time around, I am doing things differently. I may not win the big prize…..but I will still be moving forward. And moving at any pace is still success.

It took me a long time to come to terms with it. I’ve always wanted perfection or nothing. I want SIGNIFICANT results during a 12-week challenge. But I know myself well enough to know I won’t do it unless I start small – unless I’m willing to let go of being perfect, and just BE!

I’m not afraid of the little things. I’m not afraid to make small changes. I’m not afraid to be a tortoise.

I’m keeping my eyes on the finish line and I will not STOP!!!! I may come in dead last. I may CRAWL over the finish line. I may not finish at the number I want to finish at, but I will finish. I will get there. And I will get there one day, one meal, one workout, and one moment at a time!!!!!!!

If you’d like to know more about the Fit Yummy Mummy lifestyle system to to www.fityummymummy.com!

What’s happened here? When did this change? This was the kid who used to LOVE The Wiggles (we even took him to a concert where he screamed his little heart out….he had so much fun)!!!!

And he’s only 8……

….And this reminded me……that time is going to pass regardless of what we do. The clock is going to tick forward, the minutes are going to press on, and the days are going to turn into nights whether we’re sitting on the couch watching TV or investing quality time into our children, our marriages, and ourselves.

It’s no secret I’m a bit of a TV addict.

It all stems from a part of my personality that can’t stand to miss out on anything. I have a hard time saying NO for fear I will miss something. If someone asks me to go for coffee, I say yes. If someone asks me to go shopping, I say yes. If someone asks me to help out in my sons’ classroom, I say yes. If someone asks me to go out for dinner, I say yes. I AM A YES GIRL.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

I suppose I fear that if I say no some memory will be made that I won’t be a part of.

Television is no different. What happens if I miss tonight’s episode of The Biggest Loser? What if something so awesome happens that everyone’s talking about it tomorrow? What if I can’t join the conversation because I don’t know what happened?

Since I was a teenager I’d invested 5 hours every week in my favourite soap opera – Days of Our Lives. When my oldest was just two I realized I’d become addicted to it. I had been watching it everyday while I was home on mat leave with a newborn and this very observant toddler. I knew something had to change the day he said to me: “Mommy, let’s kiss real slow.”
But I resisted……I held on to that soap for soooo long despite the fact that I knew it wasn’t good for me. I had invested so many years in the storyline I couldn’t imagine it not being a part of my life!

But eventually I just didn’t watch it anymore!!!! And my life is better off today for it.

But this week I’ve got The Biggest Loser, Criminal Minds, Survivor, Grey’s Anatomy, and the Amazing Race to look forward to (and I REALLY look forward to them)!!! But how much better would my life be if I worked out instead? Or cleaned my house? Or read a good book? Or played with my kids? Or went to bed? Or sat down with my husband and talked?

I KNOW THIS IS TRUE……..but yet I don’t want to miss out.

Which brings me back to the point about my boys!!!! I was so anxious for them to grow up to the point where they could dress themselves and feed themselves – and entertain themselves – that I probably missed out on some important quality time with them!!!!

And that’s one thing I don’t want to miss out on. They’re growing up so quickly and changing right before my eyes that I think it’s about time I invested less in the television set and more in me and my family!!!!!

Because time is going to pass regardless of what I do. And I don’t want to get to the end of my life and wonder where it went…….just to know what was happening on TV!!!!

It seems that no matter what I do the scale doesn’t budge, the clothes don’t fit any looser, and the measurements don’t go up or down.

I’ve tried EVERYTHING and NOTHING works!!!!

I’ve told myself that for years…..but here’s the truth.

I have a whole wealth of knowledge at my fingertips, a whole community of support, and the right tools to make it happen! But more often than not, I choose not to. I KNOW these things will bring success but I PRETEND I don’t have time, I don’t have the energy, I’ll start tomorrow AND my all-time favourite (albeit unconscious) excuse ……..WHAT’S THE POINT?

At the end of the 12-week Fit Yummy Mummy challenge, I was doing great………but then I slowly slipped back into my comfortable routine, and chose to ignore EVERYTHING from that point on.

I KNOW what to do but for some reason I just don’t….and I have filed these items away in the folder in my mind called, Things-I-Know-But-Choose-To-Ignore…..because if I’m being honest with myself, I know these little things lead to success, but for some reason I just don’t do them.

These are the items in my folder.

Things I Know But Choose To Ignore

1. Water fills you up, cleanses your body and generally makes you feel good. Avoiding the bottle (or tap) leads to cravings, energy loss, and the desire to binge. Thirst trumps hunger every time.

2. Eating supportively during the week and then bingeing on weekends is a recipe for disaster.

3. Solitude is good for the body, mind and soul.

4. When cravings hit or energy is low – GET UP AND MOVE!

5. Two produce and one protein at EVERY meal keeps you satisfied and healthy.

6. Workouts don’t just run on good intentions.

7. Failing to plan is planing to fail.

8. A cupboard full of junk will ALWAYS be eaten.

9. Running away from problems and toward the fridge brings no good.

10. One week of working out will not equal a Biggest Loser weight loss.

11. Television is a time waster.

12. Facebook applications such as Scrabulous, Pathwords, Bowling Buddies, Word Challenge, Who Has the Biggest Brain, and Word Twist, should only be used when there’s nothing left to do, NOT as a first resort. And when is there ever nothing left to do??

13. Shopping (and browsing) ALWAYS lead to overspending.

14. Prayer changes things.

15. Doing NOTHING brings NOTHING.

So (and this is where YOU come in)……I challenge you to come up with those items you have filed away in your own Thngs-I-Know-But-Choose-To-Ignore folder……I’ll be taking mine out of the folder this week.

I’m not giving up and I choose to look at these setbacks as growing opportunities. They are times to get honest with myself.

Everyone is on a road to success – we just all take a different route.

The road I’m on is not straight…..it curves, it winds, it is filled with ginormous hills and deep valleys, and it is seldom paved. It’s a bumpy ride….and I’m constantly on the lookout for potholes, black ice, and torrential rains. Any bad weather sends me off course. And it might take me a while to find my way back (I’m not very good with maps) but eventually I get back on that road and keep moving forward.

Because the road always leads to success…..it’s just a matter of how long it takes you to get there!!!!!!

* I need to give credit where credit is due. The phrase, Things I know but choose to ignore, comes from the book, Mindless Eating, by Brian Wansink. The rest is my take on that phrase!

I had no hopes of succeeding. I had set myself up perfectly to achieve absolutely nothing. I had no expectations of myself – no real goals other than a half-hearted desire to shed the 90 pounds I had gained over two back-to-back pregnancies. And so, expecting nothing of myself meant I would not be disappointed at the end of 12 weeks when I saw others’ results, and read their stories of dramatic life change – and had none to share myself.

Going in with that attitude, as I did with everything in my life, I didn’t stand a chance.

But something happened the moment I posted my before pictures on Club FYM….I mean, the third time I posted my before pictures, for I had posted and deleted them thrice, out of fear, before officially registering for the challenge.

A small piece of me came to life.

There I was – admitting publicly for the first time that this once 125-pound woman had become a 200+ embarrassment. I had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, and hundreds of people were now able to see my picture, my weight and my measurements. I was humiliated – but it was too late to turn back.
I realized at that very moment that I could either accept defeat as I had long been accustomed to doing, or I could change.

I began with the physical. I started drinking more water, stuck to my workouts, began working more produce into my diet. Those small changes alone yielded big results for me. But it wasn’t enough. I knew I would have to change WHO I WAS…and how I did life. How I got from day to day.

I didn’t like the person I had let myself become….but I hadn’t exactly liked who I was at 125 pounds either. Back then I struggled to accept the body I would kill for today.

I was angry, I was scared, and I was hopeless. And the only way I knew how to deal with any of it was to eat….to binge! I would buy copious amounts of food, and hide it in my home office. A fight with anyone meant I would run to the cupboard. A long, exhausting day gave me license to ‘relax’ in front of the television for hours on end. And money in my pocket gave me an excuse to purchase something edible that would give me a ‘high.’ Food became my drug….my addiction.

I didn’t know how to get out of it.

The only thing I knew for certain was that I could not go on living that life. On the outside my life was charmed – but on the inside I was dying. It was a beautiful destruction.

I was destroying my life…..and I was helpless to stop it….until this challenge.

It was a divine intervention. The fact that I was led to Fit Yummy Mummy was no coincidence.

Now, if this challenge was purely based on physical results I wouldn’t be writing this essay right now. But I am so thankful there was more to it than that. I see definite physical changes in my body, but more than anything I have come out of these 12 weeks a changed person on the inside.

Through the workouts, the supportive eating, the site, and the community of women who make up Club FYM, I’ve finally awoken the ME I want to be.

Lest you think 12 weeks is a miracle cure for a lifetime of abuse, let me dispel that myth. These past 12 weeks have been life-changing. They have altered the way I see myself, the way I feel about myself, and they have taught me what I am willing to do for myself in order to achieve my goal.

But it’s only a starting point – a springboard, if you will – to bigger and better things.

If someone with a crystal ball would have told me at the end of this challenge I would come out of this with a new attitude, a 13-pound weight loss, and 11 ½ less inches on my body, I would NOT have believed them.

I am not perfect. Every day of my life is not rainbows, lollipops and sunshine. I don’t wake up every morning anger-free, and I still binge on occasion. I still have moments when old habits come creeping back in. But I have the tools now to deal with those moments. And I have before and after pictures that tell me this journey is possible. This journey is one that I CAN take…..that I am choosing to take. And I am so thankful for that.

Total: 13 pounds lost, 11 ½ inches lost – and counting!!!!

Check out Fit Yummy Mummy – and get the body you’ve been dreaming of in just 15 minutes a day! I won’t lie – it’s an intense 15 minutes – but if I can do it, anyone can do it!!!!