Slow and steady

I never quite understood the importance of the Proverb that talks about being slow and steady until the past four or five months. I’ve always been a “zero to 60” kinda woman. Going hard and extreme only to tire out, get bored, or not see results as quickly as I would have liked.

Back in 2010, I was determined to lose weight and become a runner. I was at one of my “0” points at that time and had become fed up with my weight and sedentary lifestyle. I went to Weight Watchers and I started walking more. At this time, I was a little over 390 pounds. My mind was telling me that I was an athlete and that I could do anything. But, my body had other plans. Within weeks, I had so much ankle pain that I could barely walk. I eventually found out that I had a near rupture in my right Achilles tendon, a tear in my left one, and spurs digging into both tears. I spent the next few months with both legs in alternating hard and soft walking casts. My “training” was derailed. I became depressed, gave up on Weight Watchers, and started putting back on the little weight that I had managed to lose. 0-60.

That’s just one example that I can think of. There are many many more. A lifetime of them. Only now, can I see why I continued to repeat the same patterns over and over with no results. I felt desperate. I felt an urgency to lose weight, not be trapped in a failing body, and start thriving in life. When I was in “getting healthy” mode, I felt invincible. I needed to do everything “hard” and right now! I hadn’t learned that patience and incremental improvement was going to get me where I wanted to go.

Now, I actually have two mantras that I think or whisper to myself:

“Slow and steady wins the race.”

“Remember your goal.”

I chant them genuinely, wholeheartedly, and often. Those two mantras remind me that zero to sixty is perfect for some people, but not for me. Since my weight loss surgery on August 9, 2018, I’ve developed something that I never had before-PATIENCE. I started walking for fitness in early October 2018. I signed up to walk my first 5K in February 2019. I walked that first 5K on April 20, 2019.

I had to be patient with what I was capable of doing with a body that had been sedentary for so long and weighed so much versus what my mind wanted to do. My mind wanted to just get off of the couch and start running weeks after surgery. My mind just knew that it was capable of that. It still does sometimes. It took all that I had in me to wait to start my walking journey until I was healed from surgery and at a weight that I could walk without excruciating pain in my back, hips, and knees. I had to remind myself that I have long- term goals that will require me to be in top shape mentally and physically to get to them. I’ve been overweight since I was about 5 years old. Working up to my goals over mere months is reasonable considering the length of the journey thus far.

I’ve lost 106 pounds over the past 10 months since my surgery. It’s been slow and steady. It’s been slow, steady, and CONSISTENT. That’s been the key to my success so far. Showing up, being reasonable, and sticking it out.