Staying motivated

This week will be the easiest to stay motivated. I'm excited... There is a certain energy in the air surrounding New Years and resolutions. Motivation is in ample supply right now. Realistically, I'm usually pretty motivated up to even 3-4 months out but that is when I hit a wall. I don't know if I get bored of the process or if I long for a change but when I hit that wall everything seems to lose momentum. I need to start planning now for what I am going to do when motivation is lacking. Good health does not happen because of motivation but self discipline. This is the key to life that I need to not lose. I won't always want to get up at 4am to press play, get in my morning calories or blog what I am grateful for. If you look at my history of blogs this is where I fall off the train. I go well for a handful of days then face plant. The reason I'm making my health and wellness a priority this year is because it will train my self discipline. Discipline is the secret to success in every area of my life. When I'm disciplined to write daily my writing improves, when I workout daily my body gets stronger... And so on and so on. Making better choices is a tangible way to workout my own discipline so as I move forward towards my goals. I am be prepared for success! Gratitude: 1: I am grateful for motivation 2: I am grateful for self discipline 3: I am grateful for introspection 4: I am grateful for the beauty of freshly fallen snow. 5: I am grateful for late night cuddles with my husband 6: I am grateful for my tablet that allows me to type blog posts in bed. 7: I am grateful for an amazing career. 8: I am grateful for supportive co-workers 9: I am grateful for finances to pay bills 10: I am grateful for my family

Healthier, Strong 2019

In 2019 I am using one of Rachel Hollis' principals. I am focusing on one goal and that is all. I am making this goal happen this year. Everything I do is going to be towards this goal. I will accomplish other things along the way but my health and fitness is my number one priority. I'm turning 35 this year and that is too close to 40 for me not to make this goal happen NOW. In 2019 I am going to lose 100 lbs. I will be the best version of myself for my children, for my husband and for myself. What makes this year different is that I'm not trying to juggle all these balls of being successful in the air. I am narrowing in on a laser sharp focus. If it does not make me a stronger and healthier person I am putting whatever it is on the back burner. I love a phrase that Rachel uses on almost a daily basis, "Hope is not a plan." I am not hoping these 100 lbs away. I'm making a plan and sticking with it. The first thing I plan on doing is following Rachel's "5 to Thrive."

The "5 to Thrive" sets me up along the right path towards success. By waking up an hour early I can be sure to get my 30 minute workouts in to my routine. Waking up early for me means 4:30 every morning. In order to make these 4:30 wake ups I'm going to have to commit to going to be by 10 pm. Both of these things are difficult but I want this goal more than I want to stay up late watching another Hulu episode or playing another video game or reading another page in my book. I want this goal more than all of those things. Drinking half my body weight of water is incredibly difficult especially since I work a desk job but I drink the better I feel. As of right now I need to drink 140 ounces per day. I'm looking forward to that number going WAY down by the end of this year. Instead of focusing on giving up on one food category (more to come on this later) I am going to give up daily weigh ins on the scale. The fitness and nutrition plan I am following lends towards weighing in every 3 weeks. Last but certainly not least I need to focus on gratitude and I'm going to do that here. I am going to use my blogging and my instagram to focus on my journey and my gratitude. These tools will be my source of accountability every single day. For my workout plan I am following the 21 day fit plan. That's 21 30 minute workouts and a full system of eating using containers. During this cycle (which is what they call each 21 day fit time period.) I am counting calories and adjusting my body down to the proper limit. I started my first cycle yesterday. I am officially one workout in. Today I start counting my calories. I am using the app loseit to track my progress and food. I am breaking this goal into milestones. My first milestone is the completion of my first cycle from the 21 day fit program. This first 21 days of focus will set the tone for my next milestone. My plan is to repeat the 21 day fit cycles until I am able to do the "Beast mode" cycle with 2 workouts per day. After I am able to do this I'm deciding between the 80 day obsession and P90X. I have probably 6 cycles before I get to that point so I am going to just enjoy the ride. In keeping with becoming the best version of myself along with the 21 day fit cycle I am also going to prioritize stretching/yoga at least once per day for this cycle and moving up to twice per day for the next cycle. Flexibility is important aspect of overall health and wellness. Measuring my success is pretty straight forward in some areas. Obviously with my goal being to lose 100 lbs when I lose that number of pounds I will be at my goal. Being my healthiest version of myself will be measured in different ways. Running a 10 minute mile is my oldest son's goal for this year. I plan on running with him every day until he reaches his goal. I'm also a part of a mile per day running accountability group for 2019. These two goals together will push me towards my over all goals of health and wellness. Gratitude List: 1: I am grateful for the ability to wake up every single day. 2: I am grateful for having a full week off of work to spend with my kids. 3: I am grateful for chores to do because that means I have a home to do them in. 4: I am grateful for my 3 crazy kids. They keep my life interesting. 5: I am grateful for the unconditional love my gigantic dogs provide on a daily basis. 6: I am grateful to live in a time where having food to eat means picking things up from the grocery store and not toiling in the dirt. 7: I am grateful for having clean water to drink when so many in the world do not. 8: I am grateful for warm coffee and tasty grapefruit. 9: I am grateful for the wonders of technology that keep us connected. 10: I am grateful for an awesome God.

The "Last 90 Days"

Good Morning,

Today I am starting a journey with some wonderful ladies from my work and the community I'm a part of. My journey is going to encompass the last 90 days of the year.

This challenge is issued by Author Rachel Hollis. If you have never heard of Rachel Hollis I highly suggest you check her out.

Today is day 1 and we are setting goals in our group.

I broke my goals into 5 areas with 3 goals in each area.

Home

1) Purge 100 items from my home
2) Create and stick with a cleaning schedule
3) Pay off 3 debts

Health
1) 5 to thrive
2) Stick to no added sugar, no caffeine, and add no dairy for the next 90 days.
3) Be able to do 10 push ups.

Mind
1) Read 6 books about personal growth
2) Journal daily
3) Speak positive Mantras for 5 minutes daily

Work
1) Write for 30 minutes daily
2) Stick with block scheduling my time
3) Meet 9 new community members

Family
1) Sit, reflect, pray, and review with my kids nightly
2) Spend 5 minutes per day of uninterrupted one on one time with my husband
3) Do something active every weekend with my family.

I wanted to make sure to keep a balanced amount of positive habits to develop, goals that can be achieved and crossed off and ways to streamline my life. One other big goal I have for myself is to let go of guilt. If I need to take a nap because I'm warn out then that's okay, if I make a choice for my family that is okay. I am allowed to say "no" without feeling guilty.

What are your goals for the next 90 days? If you could take on anything what would it be?

Day 3

Today is day 3 of my 90 days. I'm currently focusing on doing an hour a day on the treadmill for the first 21 days. If I get any extra workouts in (stretching, yoga, playing outside with my kids) that is just sunshine on a rainy day.

In the last post I talked about my goals for the next 90 days. I read a motivational post on pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/runningtowardsme/motivation/) today that talked about how to change our goals into reality.

I don't want my goals to just be wishes. I want to achieve my goals. I am going to follow 4 steps to achieve my goals. These 4 steps are to write down my goals with a date, make a plan to help follow through on goals, do/track the action, and achieve the goal.

1) Write out your goals with a date.

I have 4 goals I want to achieve personally. Writing out your goals greatly increases the chances you will achieve them. Writing out your goals where other people can see them increases those odds even more!

Goal #1: Go to the Gym Consistently (September 7, 2018)

Goal: #2: Eat Paleo. (September 7, 2018)

Goal #3: Drink 100 oz of water daily. (September 7, 2018)

Goal #4: Blog or Vlog about my journey daily. (September 7, 2018)

These are my four goals for the next 90 days! Next I need to write out my plan for achieving my goals.

2) Write out your plan.

A goal is great but without a plan you don't go anywhere. Here is my plan to achieve each of my goals.

Plan #1: Set out clothes (shoes, socks, shorts, tank top, undergarments), charge phone, and have                        water  ready the night before.

              Wake up earlier then everyone else. (by 6:00 AM) This means I need to make sure I'm in                      bed  by 11:00 PM every single night.

              Give myself time to have breakfast, drink my morning tea, do my morning devotions, and                    prepare for going to they gym.

              Drive to the gym and workout on the treadmill for one hour.
         
              Take pictures of my achievements and my daily gym selfie to help keep me motivated and                   accountable on days I do not want to go.

Instagram

Plan #2:   Write out a meal plan.

                Do all of my shopping in one day and only get what is on my list.

                As I make something to eat, prepare enough of that meal for several other meals.

                Only eat what is on the meal plan or healthy snacks list.

                Drink water all day long.

Plan #3:  Have my water ready to go first thing in the morning.

               Only drink water/tea

               Record how many ounces of water I have drank as I finish each bottle.

Plan #4:  Set aside time to write about my experiences.

               Take pictures throughout the day of what I am doing to make my goals happen.

               Use this tool as a way to hold me accountable.

               Post every day even if it is a short paragraph.

3) Track your progress.

I track my progress in a couple of different ways. I have a board that I write my four goals on. As each goal is achieved I check it off. I also take pictures of my work outs and post them to my instagram. I do side by sides of my progress as each week goes past and I take photos of my food to post on social media as well.

4) Achieve your goals.

This is the direction I am heading. I will achieve these goals and when I do I will make more goals. Life is all about living up to our potential.

So It Begins..... again....

296 lbs... this is not my heaviest weight by far but it is not a weight I'm happy with. I feel like I begin again every month. I know I need to make the changes for my health and my family but I can't seem to get them to start and stick right now.

I have the next three months to concentrate on losing weight and building relationships with my family. I am going to use every second of that time.

It is time to jump back with both feet into Paleo eating habits. My body works like a well oiled machine when I stick to this eating plan. I also need to hit the gym every day even if it is only for a short while. I don't know why but when I'm going to the gym every day I'm successful. When I miss and don't go I fall of the train.

I recently read it takes 21 days to make a habit and 90 days to make a lifestyle. I'm going to commit to the next 90 days to eat paleo every day, drink 100 oz of water every day, go to the gym every day and either vlog or blog about my daily experiences every day for the next 90 days.

I can do this. I have done it before it is time to make this happen and go beyond what I've accomplished in the past.

Day #1

Finding myself

On Monday a new chapter of my life begins. I have signed up to do a Biggest Loser contest with a good friend of mine. Most of our accountability will be online. The contest will run for 90 days. I've let myself go. I haven't achieved so many of my goals and I'm devastated with myself. How did this happen? How did I let myself get over 300lbs again! I feel like I continually let myself down. I haven't run a half marathon, I haven't ran a mile in under ten minutes outside or even on the treadmill. I haven't bought a bigger vehicle. When I look back on my goals so few have actually been achieved.

That ends here. In May, I finally graduate with an associates degree. This has been a long time in coming. I'm taking the next year off of school to decide what I want to do for my Bachelor's degree before I kick that off. I also want to get some of the pounds of debt off of our shoulders. I need to figure out why I keep failing. Why I keep not hitting my goals? I need to value myself as much as I value everyone else.

I'm setting a huge, kind of crazy goal for this contest. I'm doing this the biggest loser style for reals. I want to lose 100lbs in 90 days. This is doable but it will take all my dedication and effort to make it happen. I'm sticking to a 1200 calorie diet, daily workouts, drinking 100 oz of water per day and committing to get at least 6 hours of sleep every night. I'm done failing. This 100lb push will get me to the point where my end goals aren't so far ahead of me.