I Won't Back Down

I think some of my friends are feeling a little down and frustrated with the scale right now.   I understand it because I feel it too.   After you've given every drop of sweat you have in your body, denied yourself daily, felt the gnaw of hunger in your belly, stretched your brain to think of what to eat for every meal, and pushed yourself past every limit in your heart, to have the scale not reflect this Herculean effort is devastating. You think, "Dang, I might as well have been on the couch eating Doritos."  This is the point when most people quit...my former self included many times over. 

To you and to myself I say, as long as you keep moving (whether you're losing, gaining, or on a plateau) you are still in the game.  After step class today, I was sitting on a mat in the gym stretching my aching legs out and thinking about the arabesques I just did in class and the strength in my legs.   I thought about how I started doing eight pound free weights, and now I can lift twenty pounds over my head easily. 

The World English dictionary says that strength is, among other things, "the ability to withstand or exert great force, stress, or pressure" and "the quality or state of being strong; bodily or muscular power; mental power, force or vigor; moral power, force, or vigor."  All of my friends have these qualities.   Working out is so much more than how many calories you burn or the pounds that you drop.  Those are only the top end of the pyramid we are building.

To anyone who is struggling or feels tired of fighting the fight (myself included at times) I say keep showing up and I offer you some lyrics from Tom Petty:


"Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of Hell
But I won't back down

No I'll stand my ground
Won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from dragging me down
Gonna stand my ground
And I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
Hey yeah, I'll stand my ground
And I won't back down"