My Motivation to Start Isagenix (Writing Challenge - Day 9)

Well, it's Sunday. It's day 4 of Isagenix and Day 9 of my Writing Challenge. I have to tell you that today I feel good. I won't go as far as to say I feel great because I still have a sore throat and my head is still a bit foggy. But I feel GOOD. I feel positive. So, I though today would be a good day to write about my motivations and my previous challenges.

I haven't always been overweight. Most of my childhood I was average size. It wasn't until high school that I started to gain weight. At first I was just chubby (the good Lord knows I hate this word). Then in college the weight just started to pile on, eventually I went from overweight to obese while pregnant with my first child. Between my first and second child I managed to lose weight and keep it off. I felt amazing and looked pretty good. Then I got pregnant with my second and third children and haven't been able to really stick with anything for long. I've had some good runs, some almost there's, but ultimately I've ended up being overweight and at the heaviest I've ever been. I've been overweight for about half of my life and definitely most of my adult life.

Here's the thing. While I was growing up I always saw myself as fat. I saw myself as ugly, unlovable and stupid. It's taken me a lot of years to finally see myself as pretty - to know that I am smart. Did you know that I never went to university because I didn't think I was smart enough? How sad is that?

For nearly ten years I've been with a man who loves me no matter what size I am but it's only been within the last year that I've been able to say I love myself and mean it.

Food has been my comfort in life. Food's always been there for me. It's never judged me. I would eat when I was stressed, or happy, or sad, or angry, or bored. Whatever emotion I was feeling I would eat.

One of my biggest challenges has been how to eat vegetables with a house full of picky eaters. It just became easier to not eat veggies. The thing is I enjoy eating vegetables. I just got into the bad habit of not eating them.

Now that I’ve worked on my emotional well-being I no longer need food for comfort. However, I’ve been doing the same thing for so long it's really difficult to break the cycle.

I've tried counting points, counting calories, intermittent fasting, fad diets - you name it. I have a few before pictures and zero after pictures. I'm really good at starting diets and really bad at sticking with them. I always start the same way - "This time feels different."  "This will be the one that works." And then exhaustion sets in or old habits take over and I'm right back where I started.   

This is where Isagenix comes in. I’ve seen friends’ lives transformed. I’ve seen this vitality and rejuvenation in them and it has sparked a fire within me. I want what they have. I want so much energy that my husband and kids have to keep up with me.

There’s a new life out there that's just waiting for me to wake up and join the race.  

When Motivation Fails You

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Happy Training Tuesday! Today I thought we could all use some motivation. Motivation is the reason a person engages in a particular activity. Motivation only gets us so far and then at some point fails us. It could be tomorrow, next week or next month but at some point we lose our motivation and it's a battle to get it back. There are millions of tips, tricks, hints and advice on how to regain your motivation, which is why I decided not to make this blog a list. I thought I'd just share my personal experiences. 

A couple of months ago I started a new weight training regime. It was fantastic. I loved it and I managed to follow through for an entire month. This was HUGE for me. However, I made a mistake. I decided to change my routine. Not the days, not the location, just the specific exercises. I don't know about you, but if I'm honest with you (and more importantly with myself), I do not deal with change gracefully. In fact, I get downright miserable. It doesn't matter if the change is good or bad it affects me. I've known myself for almost 32 years....you'd think I would remember I don't cope very well with change. 

For the past month I've been struggling to get into this new routine. I managed 2 days per week for 2 weeks and lost 2 weeks. Tonight I forced myself to work out. I've been feeling crappy because when I stop working out any healthy eating also goes out the window. I realized what it was about the "new routine" that had me avoiding working out. I don't like changing the weights by doing a heavy set and a light set. That's why I didn't last long with Body4Life either. I admit it...I really enjoy lifting heavy! 

This is what I don't get about myself...I KNOW that I will feel better if I weight lift 3 times per week. I KNOW that I have more energy and have more confidence. I KNOW eating better makes me FEEL better. So, if I know all this then why can't I seem to do it? 

The one thing that does seem to work is FORCING myself mentally to work out. I convince myself that I cannot miss today's workout. I usually still drag my feet and end up lifting weights at 9 pm (because working out before bed seems like a good idea...sigh).

What do you do when motivation fails you? I'd love to hear from you!

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Waiting for the Motivation Train

Good Morning People. Wow! It's been a long time since I last posted. In fact it's been a month and 10 days! This post is way overdue.

Let me start by saying

Hello, Old Friend! I've missed you. How've you been?

Well, I've had a month of ups and downs. In September I hurt my wrist biking. It rained almost every day in September and killed my biking motivation. Add to that my two oldest kids are in school full time. It's been an adjustment period for the whole family. I think we've finally worked out a routine that for the most part works.

Last week I finally found a routine that works for me at home. With winter around the corner I know I'm not going to go outside to exercise. I came across a link from About.com that has a circuit of calisthenic type cardio exercises. They're simple, but effective and I'm completely out of breath after 10 minutes. You can't go wrong doing froggy jumps and prisoner squats. =)

Yes, for now I'm only doing about 10 minutes of cardio and then I hit the weights for about 25 - 45 minutes depending on which day I'm on. I've got 4 work out days. I've been at it for two weeks and managed to work out twice the first week, three times last week. This week the plan is to complete all 4 work out days. 

A friend of mine sent me this blog post that really struck a chord with me. It's all about the Myth of Motivation. How so often people have false starts and a lack of motivation to stick to it. If this is you I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read it.

Here's a little exerpt:
 So if you find yourself sitting at the train stop waiting for the motivation train, I’m here to pass along the memo that train has been canceled and it never really led anywhere in the first place. Do it because it needs to be done. It’s like brushing your teeth, it’s not optional if you want to keep all of your original teeth in your head. Don’t make your health optional or dependent on anything as fleeting as motivation. 

Since I read this article I've been scheduling workouts into my day and making a point of doing them. I'm not saying I've found some surefire cure to my workout plan. So far this is working and maybe not relying on motivation is the key to actually sticking to it. It's no longer a choice, it's a necessity.

Although I would like to mention that since August 7th I have lost 9 lbs. I've joined a group of women in a bet to lose 10 lbs in 2 months and to keep it off for another 2 months. It starts today and the goal date is December 18th.

Wish me luck!