weightloss wednesday: attitude & goals

you know how at the beginning of the year, the gym is packed full? come february it's back to it's flow. gotta love optimism! people love to make goals [typically at the beginning of things... i'll give up chocolate on the 1st of the month or i'll start my diet come sunday] and are amazing at them for such a short time, but often slack off after the initial excitement is over. for example, i knew a friend in college who was sooo gun-ho to start going to the gym so she signed up and paid all the dues, got her free water bottle, bought clothes & weights & pedometers & equipment at walmart- then never went after that week. now, i am all for buying clothes for no reason, but it's also important to look past the glitz and keep your head down for the long road. so for her, she was materially motivated [as i am motivated by my want to eat crappy food] so i would suggest she could have made goals then reward herself with a cute new top or fun balance ball after a month or two of going to the gym- or by hitting a certain weight goal. since i'm motivated by food, i love to splurge on my once a week slurpees if i workout that week. being said, it's easy to reward yourself despite the goal [like i do] but still, it works. justin & my goal for running has been our 5k at the beginning of september. i hate running more then almost anything in the world but it's nice to have something i know i'm working towards. weight loss would be amazing but not my primary goal. now here's a plug for someone whose working towards a ragnar race and she's lost loads of weight on the way. chelsea is my bff8's sister who is basically me. she looks amazing and accomplished so much so check out her blog here!

now speaking of attitudes- i'm talking about motivation. i'm not too motivated to exercise- hardly ever- but for me, i can workout better in the mornings before i give myself a chance to talk myself out of it. afternoons are a lot harder. i think it's also important in your journey to not get frustrated. for example, justin has lots 20lbs in a month and has kind of plateaued. now he's letting his guard down and talk about going out for mcdonald fries, cokes & candy bars. most of the time, it's hard to get over that hump where you appear to make no progress. for me, i try to look at what i have accomplished and what i'm proud about. for example, i love the burn and soreness i get from working out. it makes me feel like i've DONE something. i also love the nike running app that lets me see how far i've run and what my average time was. i also like to focus on the external parts of myself i like- like my hair. that's one part of my body that i really love.

so this week, make a goal, a realistic one, that you can achieve then feel good about. whether it's the just dance sweat challenge, running 4 days a week, go a mile without stopping, or just saying no to desserts all week. make a goal, give yourself a reward [preferably a non-food one, you aren't a dog. for me, this is a tough thing to learn] and be proud of your accomplishment. and the best way i've found, is to write it down. some people write their weight loss on their wrist, others write it on the mirror- i like to track my exercise on the fridge.

next week i'm gonna talk about doing weight watchers for freezy!