Almost April!

Hey everyone! It is almost April- here is a reminder that April is the 100 mile month! Just to recap here is the challenge:

Go 100 miles this month on your own steam, for the purpose of exercise.

It can be walking, running, hiking, swimming, or even the mileage from a stationary workout machine. If you do zumba, clip on a pedometer and count each step! If you bike count those miles up! You are earning them.

My plan is scheduled to start on Sunday and I am so excited to do this. It will be so nice to look back at the end of the month and feel like I have gone somewhere!

One of the ways that I push myself, is by earning a reward. If you knew my family you would say this is an "apple doesn't fall very far from the tree" scenario, since I was raised by a dad who believed we should earn everything, even if it meant walking past a bike every day, until all the chores were done! What that taught me, is that things feel great when you earn them. They mean more, and have infinitely more value.

This translates to two things that are helping me lose weight; In the short term there are calories.

 If I think of calories like money, something that must be earned before it is spent, then it makes the trade of workout for snacks much easier. The reason i gained all the weight in the first place, is that there is no credit limit on calories, you can borrow from your future until things are so out of control. And there is no declaring bankruptcy- you have to earn your way back out. But any financial planner can tell you, with a good plan and responsibility, you can pay down debt, so that is what I do at the gym every day. It makes the slice of pizza taste so much better, knowing that I earned it. The same way it felt great the first time you bought yourself with something from your babysitting money.

Things you work for, are worth more.

The other way the lifestyle of earning things is helping, is that once I want something, I know I can find a way to get it. If I tell myself that I can have something once I have lost a certain number of pounds, I know I want that thing. My latest motivation is skydiving.

I know, the thing that is motivating me, is a desire to jump out of an airplane. But I have done it before, and if you think you get an endorphin rush off a treadmill, you should try the adrenaline of skydiving. It is life changing. Last time I went, I was quite a bit thinner, and the place we want to go has a weight restriction. I was 50 pounds too heavy to skydive in November. Now I am 18 pounds to heavy.
I have 6 weeks, to drop those last 18 pounds, and I know it won't be easy, but I also know I can do it.

So Happy April! I hope you join me in this challenge, and I hope you share your results!

Just Keep Swimming

It isn't always easy to keep going at the gym. There are a lot of days when I am tired, or want to be lazy but David makes me go. 

So what motivation is there for me to keep going? 

It's Dory, from finding Nemo. There is just something highly motivating, about the "just keep swimming" song.

I am hoping that motto- can keep me going on the path that I am on, because I actually had to go to the mall and buy a few new things. My favorite skirt was literally falling off of me the other day. 

Seeing the change is good, and that motivates me too.  

So tonight when I am at they gym, I just hope people won't laugh if they notice me humming my little motivation song, cause boy is it working! 

Back to it and "Resolutioners"

New year means being back on the bandwagon. I know I ate poorly and sat around too much over the holidays.
So the new year is a food chance/ excuse to get myself back on track with eating right and working out. The downside to the whole "healthy new year" concept is the frustration of a jam packed gym, full of new years resolutioners.

This year I'm just hoping they buy a lot of home use equipment, then give up early and sell it for cheap on the internet. We got an elliptical machine, but i can totally see why the last owners sold it, it is squeaky and definitely not as great as the ones at the gym.

But this is my year. I'm back on My Fitness Pal (which I highly recommend) you don't need a smartphone to use it, and there is no special diet. You just tell it your weight and your goals, and it reinforces every positive thing you do. Oh and it's free. So if you are a resolutioner, definitely check it out! (www.myfitnespal.com)