Witch, its been rough

Hello, my coven. 🖤🔮

I know, I know. I did it again. I said I was going to be better about keeping up with my updates, and then I disappeared into the void like a witch who accidentally wandered too far into the woods. Life has been lifing as usual, and apparently it has decided that my calendar, emotional stability, and free time are all optional. Between work, family, stress, grief, and just the general chaos of existing, I blinked and suddenly realized I haven’t been here updating you all like I said I would. So, hello again. I promise the coven hasn’t been abandoned. I’ve just been busy trying to remain upright, hydrated, and only moderately haunted.

The family member I mentioned in my last update, the one I had received some unfortunate news about, has unfortunately passed away. Another battle with cancer has taken another member of my family, and that has been difficult to process. Losing someone is never easy, but I think there’s something especially exhausting about watching cancer take another person you love. Grief doesn’t exactly follow a schedule or politely wait until you have the time and emotional capacity to deal with it. It just shows up whenever it feels like it, makes itself comfortable, and apparently has no intention of leaving anytime soon. So I’ve been doing my best to navigate that while still managing everything else life has thrown at me.

One thing I am incredibly proud of, though, is that even through all of the emotional and stressful things happening, I have stayed committed to my weight loss journey. I’m officially down 110 pounds, which is still a number I have to stare at for a minute because I honestly can’t believe I’m saying it. One hundred and ten pounds. That’s a whole human. And while I’m obviously proud of the physical progress, I’m even more proud of what has happened mentally along the way. I stuck with it. I didn’t let a difficult season send me completely back into the habits that I spent so long trying to break. I didn’t decide that because life was hard, my progress no longer mattered.

I think that’s one of the biggest things this journey has taught me over the last four months. It isn’t about being perfect. In fact, I’ve learned that perfection is a completely unrealistic standard that we put on ourselves for absolutely no reason. Nobody is perfect. You’re going to have bad days, you’re going to miss workouts, you’re going to have meals that aren’t exactly what you planned, and you’re going to have days where the last thing you want to do is exercise. There will be days when motivation packs a suitcase, leaves without saying goodbye, and blocks your number. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’re human.

The difference now is that I don’t see one bad day as the end of my progress. I don’t have to throw everything out the window because I had a rough day. I can simply acknowledge that it happened and get back to it the next day. Consistency has become so much more important to me than perfection ever was. You don’t have to be perfect every single day to get results. You just have to keep showing up more often than you don’t. Even when it’s messy. Even when it’s inconvenient. Even when you aren’t feeling particularly motivated. Those little choices eventually add up, and one day you look around and realize you’ve come a hell of a lot farther than you thought you could.

The community I’ve found through this program has also been such a huge part of that. I’ve come across a group of women who are incredibly motivating and encouraging, and there’s something really special about having people around you who understand what you’re working toward because they’re working toward something too. We’re all on different journeys and we’re all here for different reasons, but there’s still this sense of everyone cheering each other on. It’s a reminder that you don’t have to do this perfectly and you don’t have to do it alone. Sometimes you just need someone in your corner reminding you that you’re doing better than you think you are.

And then there is my coach, who deserves a little appreciation of her own. I won’t mention names because those of you who know me in real life, and not just as Sage, the anonymous witch behind this little corner of the internet, already know exactly who I’m talking about. She is genuinely one of the most inspiring people, and one of the things I appreciate most about her is that she is real. We’re obviously on completely different journeys, because everyone’s journey is different, but she never tries to pretend that she has somehow unlocked the secret to becoming a perfect human being who never misses a workout and survives exclusively on protein and moonlight.

She’ll be honest and say, “Hey, I haven’t worked out in a week because I’ve been so busy.” Or she’ll talk about finally getting a leg workout in and feeling a little weaker than she did the week before. And honestly, I love that. Because an honest coach is the best coach. I don’t want someone pretending that everything is always perfect. I want someone who can admit that life happens, that sometimes you’re tired, sometimes you’re busy, sometimes you don’t feel as strong as you did the week before, and yet you can still get back up and keep going. Coaches are human too, and I think there’s something incredibly valuable about seeing that instead of being made to feel like everyone else has figured life out except you.

That’s probably the biggest lesson I’m taking away from all of this. You don’t have to have a perfect week. You don’t have to have perfect motivation. You don’t have to have everything figured out. You just have to keep moving forward, even if sometimes forward looks like taking one tiny step while internally screaming

So, my coven, I’m still here. I’m still working, still figuring things out, still navigating grief and stress, still trying to become the best version of myself, and apparently still occasionally disappearing from my own blog. But I’m also 110 pounds down, and I am damn proud of that. I didn’t get here because every day was easy. I got here because I kept coming back on the days that weren’t.

And if you’re reading this while you’re in one of those seasons where everything feels hard, I hope you remember that you don’t have to have it all figured out right now. You don’t have to completely transform your life overnight, and you certainly don’t have to be perfect. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is simply decide you’re going to try again tomorrow. Give yourself the same grace you’d give someone you love, celebrate the tiny victories, and remember that progress is still progress even when it doesn’t look impressive from the outside.

You never know how much your life can change when you just keep choosing yourself, one day at a time. The version of you that you’re hoping to become isn’t created in one giant, magical moment. She’s built in all those little moments when you could have given up but decided not to. So keep going, even if it’s messy. Keep going, even if it’s slow. Keep going even when you can’t see the results yet. Your future self may be looking back one day in complete disbelief at how far you made it.

And if nobody has told you lately, I’m proud of you for still being here. Whatever your battle is, whatever you’re working toward, whatever chapter you’re currently surviving, don’t underestimate the magic of simply refusing to give up on yourself. Sometimes the most powerful spell we can cast is deciding that we’re worth fighting for. 🖤🔮✨