I have never been all that much of a dieter (Can you tell?), but I grew up around a lot of people who were.  A phrase that I often heard form dieters, but have only recently come to really appreciate the frustration of is: Plateau.

No, we’re not talking about a gorgeous vista overlooking a picturesque canyon here… were talking about a flat spot.  A significant, and lengthy pause in your climb.  It’s a frustrating lack of advancement and achievement (or at least can feel like one.)

For dieters, this normally means they are losing weight rapidly, but then get “stuck” at a certain weight for a while, and it is hard to get the weight loss going again.  Normally once they break past the plateau things progress well again for a while.

I’ve been doing Judo for just over a year now, and when I look back at where I was then, I have to admit that I am a ton better than I was.  But that’s not always how our brains work .  My brain often gets really frustrated because rather than looking at where I am and how far I have come, it looks at the momentum I currently have… how much better am I than last week or the week before.

Even more deadly mentally, is: “Am I advancing more quickly or slower than those around me?”  Why is this so dangerous?  Because beginners learn a ton very quickly.  The advances after that are slower.  As such, you might watch beginners improve and begin to become more challenging opponents fairly quickly.  Which leaves you asking yourself, “Why am I not improving at that same rate, so that I would always be a ton better than them?”

That’s where I am sitting at the moment.  In my heart I know I am getting healthier, and getting better at Judo… but forgive me a moment of self-pity   I feel in so many ways like I still really suck.

I know… that sounds like a pathetic “Do I look fat in this dress” cry for affirmation.  That’s not how I mean it.  I imagine we all face this challenge from time to time, and I am curious how others deal with it.

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