It’s the Journey, Not the Destination

Or is it?

It’s a common phrase and it’s something that I try to remind myself. Too often I get wrapped up in whatever goal I’m trying to achieve and forget to stop and smell the roses. Living in the moment is not easy for me.

So which is the truth? Is it the journey or the destination?

When it comes to weight loss, it’s often the destination. Everyone’s journey is different, and for some of us it can be a very very long journey! It took me almost 2 years to lose 100 pounds. There were a lot of roadblocks in my way and it was extremely frustrating when I wouldn’t see a loss on the scale for the week.

Journey

I kind of wish I had enjoyed my “journey” to lose 100 pounds a little more than I did. In the beginning I did not have faith in myself. I didn’t think I would lose the weight. I could never lose weight in the past, why would this time be any different?

When I started to see actual progress, I gradually grew to have faith in myself that I could reach my goal and lose 100 pounds. Once the weight loss was steady each week (2-6 pounds a week), I enjoyed the process in a few ways:

Feeling Deprived – I never really felt like I was depriving myself of anything. Once I got over the first few weeks of the dramatic lifestyle change, it got easier. I didn’t feel the intense hunger pains, I got used to eating less, and I didn’t usually feel like I was starving myself! Now trust me, those first few weeks were hard. I wasn’t sure I’d make it. But the body adapts and I felt okay.

Attention – I mentioned in the post, What Happens After You Lose the Weight, I started getting a lot of attention from everyone. I got attention from men who were suddenly interested in me; I got attention from family and friends and coworkers telling me how great I was doing. That definitely made the journey fun!

So in what way did I not enjoy the journey? I didn’t like how SLOWLY I was losing weight. It seemed to take forever. The plateaus were so hard to work through. And those last 15 pounds seemed to never melt away.

Destination

What happened once I reached goal weight? I reached my destination. I crossed the finish line. I MADE IT. Holy crap, I did it! It was so much fun reaching my goal. I felt strong, I felt happy, I felt fulfilled, I felt accomplished. I’d set my mind to something and I didn’t fail. That is such a cool feeling.

So did I enjoy the destination more than the journey? I kinda did! While I still count my calories and eat in moderation, I didn’t have to be quite as strict as I did when I wanted to lose weight. I also got distracted with fitness related goals that made me feel amazing. I was finally able to enjoy my life without weight loss being the #1 thing on my mind at all times.

What didn’t I like about the destination? Well, I no longer get that “high” of “oh my god I lost a bunch of weight!” because this is just ME now. Also, sometimes I feel a little un-achored because I don’t have a massive, all-consuming goal to focus on. I’m a goal-oriented person and not having something big makes me feel a little lost sometimes.

So Which Is It?

I really don’t know. I experienced positives and negatives in both stages of the process. I see the joys and frustrations in both.

When I think of this question, I think about YOU. You, dear reader, who are perhaps in the beginning of your own journey. Maybe you can’t imagine what you’ll look like at your goal weight (I never could). Maybe you don’t think you will actually lose the weight (I wondered that too). Maybe you are frustrated that it’s taking longer than it should (been there). Or maybe you are zipping along and feeling great. Either

What do you think? Is it the journey or the destination?