What motivates you?

I have officially made it two months!! YAYA! That in and of itself is quite an accomplishment! A lot has happened since my last post and with things getting even crazier as finals and Christmas approach I am not updating this as much as I should, but hopefully after next week and finals are OVER I will have a lot more time on my hands.

On Thanksgiving I did my first 5k! It was the annual Turkey Trot that Springfield hosts every year. I fell in love that day with the adrenaline, excitement and courage that it took to even sign up! I did it with a couple of the girls from my physiology class and we had so much fun! In the next 5k that I do I want to run the whole thing and see what my time is, or even if I can run the whole time. Hopefully, with all of the exercising my hip has gotten better, a small part of me is still afraid to test it out, probably after the first of the year though, I will give it a go! After the Turkey Trot I rushed home to get ready and headed to my sisters for lunch with the family, that day the ring that my Granny gave me FINALLY fit, which was perfect timing because my Granny got to come in town for Thanksgiving! As I pulled up to my sisters house, thinking to myself how long it had been since I had seen everyone, I didn't expect anyone to notice that I had lost anymore weight since it had only been a few weeks that I seen my parents and siblings. It however, had been two months since I had seen my Granny so if anyone noticed it would be her. Much to my suprise though, as soon as my dad saw me he raved about how great I looked and how he could really tell a difference and when I walked into the house I felt like a movie star! My stepmom, sister, brother and Granny all greeted me with open arms and lots of compliments :o) I can honestly say, that I have never felt so special in my entire life! It really validates for me how my hard work is paying off when people reassure you that they can see a difference when they look at you. It was a great feeling and definitely gave me an extra little push to work even harder. I have the knowledge and determination now to be stronger and better and go harder with this! I have a goal to reach by summertime and I fully intend to crush that goal, break through any walls that stand in my way and keep climbing the mountains that try and hold me back. I've got this!

One thing I did realize over Thanksgiving though, that while one cheat day is ok....4 is not! :o) When I weighed in to check myself Monday morning I had gained three pounds! At that point I had to make a decision, was I going to continue to have cheat days every weekend like I had been and spend the week ahead fighting to undo everything that I had done the weekend before just to do it again the next weekend or was I going to do away with weekly cheats, now I mean like entire weekend cheats, and start really loosing the weight that I should have lost along time ago? It wasn't hard to make my decision and as this last weekend found me I weighed in to a 17 lb weight loss and made a decision right then and there that this weekend would be the first of no cheats! I did it, I resisted the temptations, I worked out and as of this morning I had dropped another pound! BOOM! That success encouraged me to not have another cheat day until Christmas, for me, it's worth it! I have two weeks from tomorrow until my weigh in for my HRA and two weeks from this past Saturday before my cousin and I weigh out of our competition! Unfortunately, all of these deadlines come right after the dreaded last two weeks of school but if I can make it through that with weightloss success then I am much stronger than I ever gave myself credit for!

In closing I want to ask...What motivates you? What factors get you to the gym, encourage you to eat healthier and over all choose a healthier lifestyle? Pain, fear, success, friends, family, a deadline, hurt, emotion, stress, coaches, co-workers, clothes? No matter what it is, no matter what drives you to choose a better life for yourself, let it! Let those things inspire you to accomplish the goals that you have set for yourself! Bikini body by summer 2012? Do it! Whatever you have to do to get there, just do it! No excuses. If I can do this, anyone can! Everyone has the ability to push themselves it just depends on how hard you are willing to work. Fight!

My obsession this week:

~100 calorie Wholly Guacamole Packs! These little packs of heaven are absolutely to die for! Well, if you like guacamole that is. Mix this 100 calorie pack with veggies or 8 wheat thins and you have a yummy little addition to your lunch or mid-day snack!

Have a great week everyone!

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."

-- Jim Ryun

Unless you puke, faint or die....keep going!

It feels like forever since I posted even though it's only been two weeks. Last Saturday was a big day for me! I lost 4 lbs! I am now down 14.5 lbs!! I weighed in this morning and only lost a half of a pound this week but I didn't let that discourage me because I know for every "Ok" week that I have, I'll have just as many "Great" weeks!

My motivation this week stems from knowing that each pound or half a pound I loose that I will never have to see that number again. I'll never weigh that amount again. By this point, anytime before, I probably would have given up already or gone back to the way that I was eating before but this time, over and over again, has proved to be so different than any other time before. This time I'm not just on a diet I'm making a significant lifestyle change and I refuse to ever go back to the way that I was. I definitely think it helps knowing that I have plenty of time to reach my goal also. All of the times before I would start in January or only a few months before the time that I wanted to be "perfect" and the pressure and stress of the time restraint definitely won over the so called "determination" I had. I never knew what determination was until I started this whole thing back in October, I will not let myself fail at this and no lack of progress from time to time will change that. I know at some point my weight will plateau and there may be a few weeks that go by that I don't loose anything until I figure out how to tweek things, those will be the times that my patience, strength and ability to bust through that plateau will really be tested. This weeks 1/2 lb weight loss is just a test leading up to that point.

This week we are coming up on Thanksgiving and although I doubtfully will reach my goal of 20 lbs lost by Thursday any number lost by that day, to me, is a good number. At least it's something right? At least I haven't given up and at least I'm not stressed about it. I'm also doing the Turkey Trot Thursday morning with my lab group from my Physiology class. I'm really excited because this is my first race to ever participate in! I wasn't planning on running because of the continuing issue with my hip but I think I have decided to at least try and run to see if, 1. I can do it and 2. to see if my hip is bothered. It's been about two months since I have tried running and while I haven't been working as hard as I should of on the therapy exercises for my hip I want to see if what I have done so far has helped at all. Plus, the race will burn some extra calories for my major day of cheating ahead :o) I won't go overboard on eating that day but I won't limit myself to what I can have either.

This week the changes that I plan on making are going to be at the gym! While I have gone to the gym more this past week than I have in the weeks prior I wasn't working as hard as I could have been. I do cardio for 45 minutes and then I'm done, not good enough! I have the ability to work harder so I definitely need to! I made a workout plan for myself to start doing after cardio and I will definitely be adding that to my workouts this week! Changing the way you eat will only benefit you on the scale for so long, I have reached that point and now it's time to step it up in the gym! I'm going with Jillian Michael's quote this week that, "Unless you puke, faint or die...keep going!!" I'm sure there will be many times throughout this week at the gym where I want to quit or be done before I have done all of the exercises that I have planned, but I have to refuse to let myself quit. Just like I have refused to let myself quit on the diet up to this point. Besides, in a month from today I will be weighing out for the competition with my cousin and while I'm currently in the lead, if I end up winning I want to win big!

My obsession this week:

~Smoothies! They are super yum and sooo good for you! Yesterday I had a Strawberry/Kiwi smoothie and this morning a Blueberry/Banana smoothie. The beauty of smoothies is that you can pretty much combine any fruit that you like and also if you put 2-3 fruits in each smoothie that you drink that right there is your daily recommended intake of fruit all in your breakfast or lunch or whenever you decide to have it. I also recommend adding a handful of spinach or kale to your smoothie, it changes the color to make it look really unappetizing but trust me you can't taste it! I did it with both smoothies that I had and I couldn't tell it was in there, not even a little bit.

Strawberry/Kiwi Smoothie

I know, I know it looks gross and yes it is green but it's so good! Definitely give it a try if you can!

1 Banana

3 Kiwis

1 cup Strawberries

A handful of Spinach

1/2 cup of Pineapple juice (This is optional. I've had it with and without and it's good both ways, because of the crazy content of sugar in most juices though I usually leave it out.)

1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt

Ice

~You can also add a half of a cup of oats for added protein and fiber if you want.

Standing back up

I've officially made it a month! November 1st marked a month since I started this journey for myself. Instead of welcoming that day with the feeling of accomplishment though, I instead felt defeat. On the 29th I went out to celebrate Halloween with my friends, I had the most amazing time but I definitely felt it the week following that night. I was disappointed in myself, knowing that I had potentially un-done everything good that I had done that week. I didn't feel well at the beginning of the week either I felt like I needed lots of carbs and bad food. For some reason I felt like that was the only thing that would take the dizziness away. My normal diet wasn't enough for my body following Saturday night. Instead of choosing to eat healthier food in larger portions I made the bad decision of fatty, fast food.

As of Tuesday I finally started feeling better and went back to eating the way that I should have been all along. Although, I ate better starting Tuesday I lost my drive to workout. However, at the end of the week I only managed to gain one pound as of this morning after everything was said and done. While gaining a pound isn't a good thing, considering the week I had I was really suprised. My dad encouraged me this morning to not give up just because I had a bad week, but instead to take that and work harder this week. I will definitely take his advice and remember the goal that I have set for myself, I refuse to give up on this, I refuse to give up on myself.

This time around I have found the determination that I have been searching for, for a long time. Although, I had a bad week I was encouraged by my ability to stand back up and fight harder to reach my goal. Anytime before that I would eat badly, not workout and gain weight I was like, "Eh, I don't wanna do this anymore, bad food is too good!" I am also encouraged by watching the biggest loser, my favorite contestant is Sunny! I just love her! She had a bad week two weeks ago and gained 5 lbs but then last week she lost 9! I remember her saying that she was discouraged from the week before because she hadn't done anything to make herself gain that weight so she did have that feeling of, "Will doing this even work for me?" Instead of giving into that feeling though she just powered through the week ahead and pulled out a big number! Her journey has inspired me and I feel like I'm doing this whole thing right along with her.

So my goal ahead is to loose 20 lbs by Thanksgiving. I know that may seem a little unrealistic, but believe me, I will not take any unhealthy route in reaching that goal. Ultimately, whatever I end up weighing on that Thursday is an accomplishment because I'll know that I did everything I possibly could have. I just want to set the 20lb goal for something to aim for. I also intend to work my tookus off this week at the gym! I can do this, I've got this. I may have times of failure still ahead but the important thing is, I will still be able to get back up. Also, I don't plan on drinking again for a VERY long time!

My obsession this week:

FiberOne brownies! Those little buggers are 90 calories of heaven! They also have 5 grams of fiber in them. They are super delicious and assist in that little umpth to get you until your next meal.