I’ve said it time and time again: losing weight and getting healthy is 90% diet and 10% exercise, but to get to the point where you can even begin to seriously work on diet, you have to get 100% committed to the work required. Food prep, discipline, and avoiding temptation. Perseverance is the name of the game, and until you can commit fully to the change required, you will spend a lot of time spinning your wheels, so to speak.

I have been stuck in a plateau for a very long time. The reasons are many but all boil down to one simple fact: I have not been fully committed. I’ve been sort-of, kind-of working on maintaining my weight below 190 lbs, and I’ve been successful at it. My weight has gone between 180 and 189 lbs over the past year, with it mostly sticking closer to 186 lbs. Why? There are a few reasons for this.

First, my body has reached an equilibrium with the amount of food I eat compared with the amount of physical exertion I’ve been expending. I sit a lot, and I haven’t been running 3x a week as I’d like to, so I’ve been stuck in the 180’s.

Second, I haven’t really committed to eating ONLY healthy foods. I eat ranch dressing with my wings, my portion sizes are a little on the big side, and I have allowed myself to imbibe alcohol on more occasions than I used to.

That has all changed. I’m back in the game. Fully. My mind is set on getting back into the low 170’s, or even into the 160’s again. I want to get my run times back down below 8 minutes/mile.

Without a mindset that is willing to sacrifice comfort, you can never get into making change. Change is uncomfortable, but the payoff is better health and lower weight. Keeping the benefits of that change involve sticking with the plan, even when it’s hard. Even when it hurts.

I’m fully committed to getting back down to where I was in weight and run times. I will not quit until I’m back there.