Goal setting! Oh how some of us hate those two words. The often unrealistic “I will lose four stone and turn into a supermodel by the summer” goal or the I will remove my eye make up every night promise, goals set, promises made and erm well all too often missed by a quick wipe in the morning with a baby wipe or a tighter size of Spanx.
It is the same when we start a fitness routine, we have these expectations of getting into that form fitting Lycra and pounding out the miles on the treadmill when in reality for me it is the sloppy stretchy yoga pants and a much loved Black Sabbath t shirt, all of which hide a multitude of sins. Years ago, like a lot of my generation, I bought the Jane Fonda workout book and tapes, fully intending to look like the photo shopped actress on the cover, I think I managed about five sessions before the novelty wore off and I convinced myself that I had permanently damaged every muscle in my body.
I laugh when I think about my Jane Fonda phase now, as a self confessed recovering gymophobe, I should have realised that back then it was a denial of my true self and that until I admitted that I hated exercise I would never move on and “feeling the burn” would remain elusive. When we set any any goal, unrealistic or otherwise, it is perhaps our subconscious giving us a jolt. Whether we suceeed or abandon it, it remains a niggle that won’t go away unless we are the kind of person who can block it all out and really hit denial hard.
So for me setting myself the 150 day challenge was not easy, it may seem like nothing is happening but believe you me, it is.
G