How to Keep Going With T-Tapp When the Going Gets Slow

Well, if you quit there is a guarantee that you won’t get results.

And the temptation to quit is real and persistent when you’re discouraged and frustrated with your progress.

But there are some things you can do to keep going when it seems like things are moving slow:

Tell yourself the truth.  Write down the workouts that you actually did—on paper, not in your head.  Keep track AS you do them, not three weeks later when the memory is foggy.  What you thought was four workouts per week may turn out to be two workouts and some time on the forum.

Tell yourself more truth.  Eating more because you exercised more is rather counter-productive.  Don’t go hungry, for goodness sake, but giving yourself a ticket to all-you-can-eat because you sweated for fifteen minutes reveals a link to “food as reward.”

Last time.  Tell yourself even more truth.  If you believe that your T-Tapp form is good and yet you have no inch loss, that raises a flag.  Sure, there are many reasons for stalled inch loss, but form is pretty close to the top of the list.  The longer I T-Tapp, the more I marvel at the tiny details of form that make a difference.  You don’t have to be perfect, but an attitude of “I know my form is good, why isn’t this working?” can block learning.  Being a student of T-Tapp has great benefits.

Give it time.  And consistency.  Two months of three short workouts per week is great.   Now let’s try eighteen months at four workouts per week, with a few months of harder effort in there (5-6 workouts/week, or adding in one or two long workouts in addition to short ones).  That is the reality of what it took for me to go from size 22 to 6/8.  It took T-Tapp trainer Trisch Richardson five YEARS.  Neither of us regrets the effort or time.

Don’t live in discouragement.  It’s perfectly normal to get discouraged.  This isn’t a two-week project.  Without photos and the fit of clothes, we might not see any differences over a long period of time.  Meanwhile we’re living real life, with all the hormones, health issues, stress, family situations and work problems that come with it.  The trick is to make that discouragement short-lived.  The way to do that is….

Encourage yourself.  Whether it’s success stories, the T-Tapp forum or watching Meet the Team on your T-Tapp DVD, change your focus and your thoughts.  Don’t dwell on how far you have to go.  Congratulate yourself on how far you’ve come, even if it’s “only” a few inches.  We get more of what we focus on, so focus on where you want to go!

Ask yourself useful questions like “How can I learn better form?” and “How can I get my workout in today—and have fun with it?”  Your brain is wired to answer questions, and you’ll come up with solutions that may surprise you with the emotional energy they create.

Nobody likes to feel stuck and trapped and unrewarded for effort.  But remember that feelings are created by our thoughts.  Allowing a fleeting, momentary thought of frustration to turn into a full-blown, depressing rant is your choice.  The thoughts and emotions snowball into an attitude that shadows the whole subject of exercise.

There are no inch-loss vending machines or thigh-slimming 100% guarantees, but there is the choice to keep going, and that just might give you what you wanted all along.