On Not Reaching Your T-Tapp Goals
On Not Reaching Your T-Tapp Goals
by Charlotte Siems
It was a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining warmly and the trees were covered with a mist of new leaves. Easter was just around the corner and it was time to go shopping for a new spring dress for church. The mall was crowded with shoppers as I made my way to the department store.
[break][/break]A month earlier I had begun doing a workout called T-Tapp. The last skirt I had bought was a size 22/24 and I felt depressed when I tried it on in the dressing room and it fit. I tried not to think about it as I packed for a trip to California a few weeks later, but it was hard to forget when the airplane seat belt barely clicked together. Even worse was the feeling of my thighs touching the passengers on either side of me in the seat. Now it was time to do some more shopping and I dreaded the ordeal.
[break][/break]The dresses only went up to size 18W in that particular store so I chose a couple of spring styles and headed to the dressing room. I was absolutely amazed when the dresses skimmed over my body and zipped without acrobatics. I was in a size 18W! Unbelievable!
[break][/break]The seat belt didn’t fit any better on the way home, but I had new hope that things were changing. However, I stayed in that size 18W for three more months, even though I was consistent with my T-Tapp workouts.
[break][/break]I had hoped to be wearing a size 16 for my son’s wedding nearly two months after Easter. Nope. I neatly wrote over the goal on my goal list “size 18” and accepted the small victory of wearing a Misses size 18 instead of a Women’s size 18.
[break][/break]For my daughter’s wedding two months later, I hoped for size 14. Nope. Once again, I took pen in hand and wrote over the goal “size 16.” Then I wrote a note “easily fit into size 16W capris without sucking in to zip!” I remember walking into the church where family was gathered to help decorate the day before the wedding. It was the first time they had seen me in months and they noticed a difference. I cherished the comments and allowed them to encourage me right where I was, size 16W and all.
[break][/break]After that point, the goals list didn’t need to be modified any more. I reached the hopeful goals I had set for the rest of the events that year.
[break][/break]Those first two goals were the reason I started T-Tapp. My son and my daughter were both engaged and I didn’t want to walk down the aisle wearing the biggest size of my life. But if I had quit T-Tapp when I didn’t reach those first two goals, I wouldn’t have eventually reached a size that was beyond my dream, size 6. My e-book Renewing Me: Size 22 to 6, 15 Minutes at a Time gives all the details on how I kept going and what I did.
[break][/break]Don’t let NOT reaching goals stop you in your tracks!
Is it disappointing to not reach a goal? Absolutely. Is it discouraging to hope for a goal to be reached for a special event, and then find that the dress doesn’t fit? Of course.
[break][/break]So what do you do when that happens?
[break][/break]Go ahead and cry. Feel the feelings. Then pull up your socks and push play.
[break][/break]You’re dealing with a human body, not a room you’ve decided to clean. Sometimes there is healing and rehabilitation that needs to happen on the inside before it shows on the outside. You can’t predict how your body will react because of the many complex factors involved. Believe in the process and stay consistent.
[break][/break]Goals are great and they are mile markers on the road. Celebrate each and every one. Just don’t feel like a total failure if they need to be revised along the way. Celebrate revised goals, too.
[break][/break]Not reaching goals can be frustrating or discouraging, but don’t get stuck there. Every change brings you one step closer to your final goal.
[break][/break]Giving up on your goal completely gets you nowhere.
[break][/break]Find some support and encouragement on the T-Tapp forum and then put one foot in front of the other. Yes, you can!
[break][/break]Have you set some goals for your fitness this year? Have you ever NOT reached a goal and kept going?
Please leave a comment below….
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Hi Charlotte! This was very encouraging for me! I am consistent with my T-Tapp but definitely struggle with my body not reaching the goals I set. So much in fact that I have difficulty setting an inch loss goal that will stick. So, I make other goals. In 2012 I counted that I exercised 177 days. In 2013 my goal is to exercise at least 200 days. This means 17 days a month, etc. This goal is tangible while my inch loss goal has escaped me way too often. With consistency for over 3 yrs I have seen results, just not as much inch loss as I expected. Some was form issue, some health issues, some need to change my thinking. So, it is better for me at this point to think in terms of how many wo days can I do and let the body results do what they may. Of course, I would like to lose 1 or 2 more sizes and 20 more pounds, but those are long term goals because the measuring tape has been too disappointing for too long. Your article came at a good time. Just what I needed to hear.
Hi CHarlotte, I love your idea of writing down the modified goal over your original goal. Thanks.
This is so what I needed to hear today!! I have been doing T Tapp for almost 6 weeks and have lost inches but not “sizes.” My sister is doing it also and has dropped a size, which is awesome but a little disappointing to me!! I feel great inside and will continue to strive for my goal!! Thank you for being a true to life example and sharing the good and the bad!!
Charlotte,
Thanks so much for writing this and sending it out of all days today!! It had to be a God wink!! It was measure in day for me and I was so discouraged, I wanted to scream, cry, degrade myself, etc. I kept trying to talk uplifting thoughts and words and even found a couple verses today to encourage, but it’s been a weight on me all day long. I have had several health issues and the most recent has really did a number on my body. I had a herniated disk at my L4/L5 & S1 December of 2011. Went to sit down and the next thing I was screaming in pain and could not move! My husband called an ambulance. Hospitalized for a couple days and released Christmas Eve Day on a walker. Pumped full of steroids, and put on home health care for over 2 months. Couldn’t even put my socks on! Then each month after that during my period I’d be back on crutches or walker. Found out I had a prolapsed Uterus and had a partial hysterectomy in April of 2012. After that recovery and Doctor okay to exercise my Mom gave me her Fit and Fab Book and DVD. (Wouldn’t tell me about it before because I am obsessed with what the scale and the size label on my pants say). Before all this I suffered with a bad gallbladder for 2 years and couldn’t eat or I’d get sick. Which caused me to lose weight, but also to lose my hair, muscle tone, and nails that were once thick and strong to become weak and brittle. After my gallbladder was removed my health began to improve and I maintained my size 4 that I had gotten to when sick. Well, when this back thing happened almost overnight, i went from a 4, to an 8, then a 10 and then a 12, and started in some 14’s. Felt like I’d lost all control. Well, my 40th birthday was coming up in September of 2012, so I began exercising at the end of July with my Billy Blanks and Turbo Jam, and after the second week could hardly walk my back hurt, it’s after this period my Mom gave me T-Tapp to try. Started off good, but didn’t reach my goal by my 40th! Kept pushing on though. This Thanksgiving 2012 I was trying to “slide” my kids’ kitchenette set downstairs, well it was heavier than I thought and we both went flying, I put my right foot down the next stair and jammed my leg which stopped my downward fall, but threw me into the railing and then the force threw me into the kitchen set and then down we went. Well, this hurt my back again this year. Good news it wasn’t herniated, but just bulged. So, during Thanksgiving onward through November I was back on crutches and a walker. More steroids. Went 3 and a half weeks without being able to T-Tapp. Plus, after this injury my Doctor told me no more volleyball:( I was on my Church league. Loved it!! Oh well, I rather be able to walk. At least I could T-Tapp, only relief for my back pain actually. So, with the 60 Day Challenge approaching I bought a couple things from you because I’m always encouraged and uplifted when I hear your story. (Even with my orders going haywire and my Mac and you patiently working to make sure I got my downloads:) Then a friend and I decided no time like the present and I gave up pop since January 1st, and I did a 10/11 day bootcamp because I took Sunday off, and I read Theresa said one day missed was okay, long as you didn’t miss any others and did an extra day. Well, today I didn’t lose a thing off of anywhere except my lower thighs a 1/4″ each for a total of 1/2″ lost. My lower thighs aren’t my issue! My waist, abs are my worse after all my surgeries (6 abdominal surgeries) and then my back issue. I now suffer from muffin top! I told my friend the only muffin I want to see are the kind you eat. I am a combo LT, the hour glass. Next week Monday it will be six months since I began T-Tapp and I’m down only one size, and I don’t know that I could go into any store and that would be my size. I was thinking if this is my result after 6 months, how can I possibly have a chance at winning the 60 Day Challenge? Texted my friend and that helped encourage me. That I feel better and not in horrible pain helps, but the part that wants to get back down in size, and weight to reared it’s ugly head today. I’m only like 12 pounds away from what I was on delivery day for both of my babies. I have no baby right now, just me:( I hate not having control and for years I used my exercise and diet to “control” my size, now I can’t, and I feel like a failure. Well, anyway, when I opened my email and read your “On not reaching your goals” I got choked up with a huge inward smile that God knew I needed this extra boost:) I know you’re a combo and you got stuck for 3 months and had other little bumps, but persistence eventually gave you the results from all that past effort you put forth. Thank you for sharing the good and the bad. When you read “I lost two sizes in 4 weeks” and you’re on month 6 and still haven’t lost 2 sizes?? I am still going through with the 60 day challenge, even though I’m embarrassed of the before picture, I know if I’m persistent I will eventually have the after picture that I will be happy about. Thanks again for sharing that real life happens and we don’t always reach our goals when we want, but if we will just keep going not only will we meet it, we may surpass it:) I’m still sad and discouraged today, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Thanks again.
Charlotte, I’m currently reading, studying, and pondering how to manage multiple goals as a homeschool mom, wife, and individual. I’m interested in your thoughts about how to gain clarity from goal setting versus overwhelm. Thanks in advance.