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.