Perseverance - 58 days left

In George W. Bush's book, Decision Points, his first chapter called "Quitting" discusses his battle with alcoholism and how he came to the decision to change permanently.  He took his bad behavior and changed his habits into something good.  Likewise, I have been doing my best to leave behind my bad behavior of poor eating and no physical activity and change it into a good behavior of a healthy lifestyle and exercise.

However, today, 8 1/2 weeks into my journey with 58 days of my challenge remaining, I find I am weary.  Perhaps I have reached this crossroads to either continue or quit as I am disappointed in the result I have obtained so far.  Another reason could be that when on other diet plans and exercise programs, eight to ten weeks in has been the length of my staying power before I totally give up.

Now before you start typing me your note saying "You don't need to quit this time Karen", let me assure you that I am not planning to.  However, I promised from the beginning of my blog that I would be as honest as possible with my entries.  Remember?  Not all smelly good stickers and smiley faces?  And so, as I write this evening, I am tired.  I am a little disheartened even after great success yesterday.  And I am already dreading my weigh in this week due to the poor numbers of the last two weeks.  I want to see and share better results.  While I have overcome many obstacles so far and achieved some small victories, I imagined myself further down the road to 100 lbs of weigh loss than where I currently sit at this moment.

In the movie, Julie & Julia, the main character Julie Powell (whose character is based on blogger and writer Julie Powell) has a similar conflict as she discusses with her husband, Eric, about having the ability to cook all of Julia Child's recipes from the book Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  As Julie is thinking about the 524 recipes she will have to challenge herself to cook over the next year and becomes slightly overwhelmed at the thought of taking the project on, her husband kindly and quietly reminds her that "Julia Child was not always Julia Child".  Meaning Julia Child was not always a teacher and publisher of fine french cooking.  Originally, she was a housewife that learned to cook for her husband.  And despite challenges and difficult people she encountered during her training and then later on to publish her cookbook, she persevered.

So for now, I think about having greater perseverance than in times past and getting through this somewhat sorry chapter in my weight loss journey.  I think about people who have made it through in the past like Julia Child to succeed at their own personal goals.  Yes, I am not happy.  But if I press through this rough spot and keep going, I will be better for it.  I will succeed if I persevere and don't quit.

per·se·ver·ance dictionary.com 

– noun 1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state,etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Romans 5:3-4 (New King James Version)

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;  and perseverance, character; and character, hope.