Motivation

There is no doubt that I made this decision completely on my own. I didn't binge eat the night before or anything like that. I just woke up and decided I needed to be healthier. But it is also without question that my friend Kelly is my inspiration, my example. I am so proud of her for what she has done and continues to do, and I hope to be right up there with her in terms of running ability and weight loss. My decision to improve my life has brought us closer, and I am certainly thankful for that.

Now, I don't necessarily need any motivation to keep eating healthy and going to the gym to work out regularly. But a little incentive never hurts.

First of all, as of Sunday, my dad decided he was going to take this journey with me. His weight loss goal is smaller than mine, but they are pretty comparable. He had just as bad of eating habits as I had (if not worse). I don't want to give myself all of the credit and that I was the sole reason he decided to make this plunge. But when I first started my new life, I talked about how good I felt and I think it inspired him to do it, too. My dad is definitely a motivator for me. We're in this together, and I need to lead the way and set a good example. It is keeping me positive in order to keep him positive. My dad and I losing weight together and getting healthy together is a father-daughter bond that I will hold dear to my heart.

A second piece of motivation is the 5K I am going to run on my birthday. Of course, just participating in one is a goal in itself, and just finishing it is another goal. But I want to build my endurance to be able to run the entire thing. Or at least jog. At this point, as of yesterday, I can only run about 1.75 miles continuously, but I hope to soon be able to run two and work my way up to be able to run three at the pace I've been running.

Finally, another piece of motivation I just added today was to give myself little material rewards with each 5 pounds I lose (based on my starting weight). I'm not getting healthy and losing the weight just to buy myself things, but I'm not going to lie - it'll feel good walking into Target and buying a Wii fitness game (haven't decided which one yet) for the sole reason that I lost those first 5 pounds to get it!

Here are the rewards I set for myself:

Lose 5 pounds: Wii fitness game

Lose 10 pounds: Pedometer and iPod Sleeve

Lose 15 pounds: Jillian Michaels DVD and 5 lb. weights

Lose 20 pounds: Elvis Blu Ray set and That's The Way It Is DVD

Lose 25 pounds: New workout pants

Lose 30 pounds: Workout DVD (Probably another Jillian one)

Lose 35 pounds: New swimsuit

Lose 40 pounds: Desi Arnaz album

Lose 45 pounds: iPhone!

Okay, so buying myself Elvis movies and an iPhone aren't exactly going to improve my health. But so be it. Gotta treat myself to something else every once in awhile. :) I'm wondering if at my weigh-in tomorrow I'll have lost those first 5 pounds, and can head to Target and buy myself a Wii game tomorrow night! That would be fun.