I think our feed nowadays, on every single app, is filled with people talking about how discipline makes your life so much better, and how you become a brand new person, and how good you feel and look once you start your journey. But everyone makes it out to be like you need to follow certain rules to a T, or it just won't happen for you. And especially challenges like 75hard or even 75soft make it seem like the most impossible thing to achieve when it really isn't all that. I'm not trying to devalue all the work people have done to get to where they're at, but you don't need to stop consuming sugar instantly and feel like you can't break a single rule. I even think that's kind of the worst thing you can do; restrict yourself. Because we all know we won't make it, and in the end you will crave a cookie and end up eating a thousand apples looking for satisfaction, and when you don't find it, you'll eat the entire package of cookies just for the relief. If you want a fckn cookie, eat it.
And also, once you start moving your body, taking care of yourself, and exercising, I understand why people say not to tell anybody about it. On one hand, people will try to convince you you don't need it. They'll say you're perfect just the way you are, and you don't need to lose or gain weight, but the truth is that everybody needs it. Whether you want to change physically, or just feel better around yourself, or just start to move your body, it doesn't matter. Everybody should exercise, drink enough water daily, and eat healthy. You do not need to hear people telling you to stop taking care of yourself, especially if you're like me and feel like giving up every single day. It's not common to hear people encouraging others on their journey or to commit to reaching their goals, so please don't look for that kind of validation from others. Believe me, they'll notice your changes once it starts feeling easier to follow your rules.
On the other hand, you'll maybe tell your friends about the gym you've been going to, or the diet you've been following. And what'll happen is that they will tell you every single thing you're doing wrong. Don't get me wrong, a little advice here and there is totally fine, and obviously helpful, but the problem comes when it stops being advice and just straight-up judging. If you add too little weight to your exercises, if you break your diet sometimes, if you skip the gym one time... of course, your friends and family should motivate you to keep going and to not give up, but you do deserve a rest day from time to time; you shouldn't restrict yourself, and you should have that sugary drink once or twice a week. You should remember that whatever you're doing, it's more than what you were doing before, and that's something to be proud of.
Maybe you don't start doing absolutely everything you should on day one; maybe today you just got up earlier than usual. Maybe tomorrow you'll get up early, and the first thing you do is drink water, and next week you'll cut out sugar after 8pm, and then after 6pm, and so on until taking care of yourself and listening to your body and what it needs becomes something easier to do, something you don't even think about doing as you're doing it, and i think that's the important thing during this process.
