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