Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Motivation

As the years pass and the kids have come, I have learned that I can no longer eat everything I want and maintain my weight.  While my weight gain with the boys was about the same as my first 2 pregnancies, it is not just falling off.  I used SparkPeople.com to lose the weight after Mo, and am doing the same this time.  I also used a gift card to buy The Spark, which is the website in book form with some great extras.  I haven't re-started the 28 day program yet, but will be doing so very soon.  I will also completely follow it this time, by making a Vision Collage.  I have a goal.  I am going to Fort Worth, Texas in April, and I refuse to pack maternity clothes.  I am about 15 pounds away from wearing most of my real clothes, and I have about a month and a half to go.

The reason I've never made a Vision Collage before is I have always struggled with the answer to one question: What do I want?  I spend most of my time wrapped up in what my family needs, our health, our finances, that I don't stop and think about desires.  When I went to the Lou Tice Investment in Excellence seminar 2 years ago, we worked on this.  I started to get there, but it didn't go far.  I had some ideas, but never followed through with fully envisioning what I wanted in my mind.  It is so bad that I usually cannot tell friends or family what I would like for my birthday or Christmas.  So one little step in the right direction is taking place right now.  Here is a list of things I would like for my birthday.  I don't expect any gifts, and do not need them, but I usually get asked, and for once here is an answer.

  • iTunes gift card so I can load my favorite songs on my new-to-me ipod Shuffle (a Valentine's Day gift from Dana)
  • Ummelina gift certificates  (my spa day was amazing  and I'd love to repeat it)
  • spending money for my trip to Fort Worth
  • a pair of red high heels size 7
  • a pair of Nike Shox size 7
Ok it's not much, but it's a start.  One last thing I've found that is key to keeping me motivated: looking my best.  It's the little things, but if I leave the house and feel like I look good for the day, then I'm more confident throughout the day.  I also find that I will stick better to my plan and feel good about my choices.  It's just the extra few minutes to style my hair, or put on some quick drying nail polish, and recently wearing contacts instead of my glasses (I love my glasses, but I think they are easy to hide behind), all make a huge difference in how I feel about my day.

What are you doing to stay motivated in your life or on  your goals?

3 comments:

Michelle said...

these are great! My weight loss post kids was sooo frustrating, because even killing myself with personal trainers wasn't taking the weight off. I finally just slowed it down and decided it had to be a permanent lifestyle change I could live with. It's been 2 years, but I'm 50lbs. lighter and actually about 25lbs. less than I was before pregnancy #1.

My reward and motivator has been skin products that I normally would feel guilty about buying because of the price, but you should see what happens to your face after you lose 50lbs! Yuk! Seeing the body results combined with the skincare results has been awesome!!

Keep up the good work!

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

February is a hard month for me because I get the winter blues. It's awful. I'm going to check out that diet plan.
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dianna said...

First paragraph, first sentence...I feel ya.

Whole last paragraph...I SO feel ya. I do believe that you have inspired me a bit though my dear*!*