Avoiding the Fitness Destination Mindset

Since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes back in February, I’ve made a pretty concerted effort to jiggle less. I often refer to this effort as my Fitness Journey.

I definitely see the appeal of using that term. A fitness journey implies that there might be stops and starts along the way. While you're moving forward with your sights set on a goal, you might find yourself deviating from the trail. You might pause, take a break, or end up on a more circuitous path than you originally intended.

Where I think the term falls short is that a fitness journey also seems to imply a fitness destination. Like there’s going to be a point where you're done, where all the hard work has paid off and you can go back to "normal."

Goal-setting tells us that goals need to be actionable and attainable, but what happens when we achieve them? It feels like we should be able to relax, to forgo the diligence and discipline. We've put in the work, and now we get to enjoy the rewards and praise of having a more socially acceptable body weight in a thin-centric culture, right?

But do we really need to keep counting calories? Do we still have to work out all the time? Sadly, the answer is yes.

It’s no surprise that the term lifestyle change has replaced diet. Like Sisyphus with his boulder, we're going to have to keep pushing the boulder of exercise and annoyingly healthy foods every day, only to start all over again the next.

Because, from experience, I can tell you this: as great as it feels to lose the weight, it feels so much worse to put it back on.

I managed to lose 60 pounds in 8 months—and yeah, I’m bragging a little. But I also took my foot off the gas because part of me felt like I had reached my fitness destination. It took less than a month to see the effects of that pause. I'm not going to lie, it was incredibly easy to fall back into those old habits. Now, I’m recalibrating and refocusing.

It’s okay to pause, rest, and catch your breath, but remember: it’s only a fitness journey if you keep picking yourself up and moving forward.