Little Victories

So it is day 5 and had I been attempting this journey on my own this is right about where I would give up, have some ice cream and sleep through my morning workout.

The Real Me: "Wow, Day 5 and no emerging six pack? Eff this. Pass the (insert simple sugar food item here.)"

The Realistic Me: "It's only Day 5, stupid."

The Real Me: "What? I can't hear you over these delicious...mmm...slurp...chocolate covered gummy bears topping my ice cream sundae."

The Realistic Me: "Dumbass."

It's only day 5...of course my body isn't drastically different. Yet that would usually be enough to kill my momentum. Unrealistic expectations have constantly been my downfall. But no more! Since our thought of the day is "everything is a gift" I am choosing to notice the positive (which is something I need to practice more of no matter what I'm trying to accomplish) and celebrate a little victory.

So though I may not have a six pack yet, when I do it will be much more noticeable because after only 5 days my posture is noticeably better. We have done a lot of sculpting and strengthening of our back muscles and my shoulders are starting to pull back. It's glorious! As a massage therapist I lost count of how many people came in with upper back pain. Most of them were surprised when I told them that what they actually needed was to strengthen their back muscles and relax their pectorals (and for many, of course, to lose weight.) "Wow, that makes a lot of sense! Now, can you spend all the time on my upper back." Sigh. But even with this knowledge, I suffered the same issues and did almost nothing about it and it showed in my posture and my muscle tension patterns. But now, only 5 days in, with a little hard work I'm starting to correct years of bad habits and poor self care. Eff yeah.