I have always been a curvy girl - and don't get me wrong I LOVE MY CURVES. I just wish they were a little less so. My battle with my weight is similar to most women out there - some success and many failures. My turn around actually began about 3 years ago when a friend invited me to ride in the MS Tour de Farms - a fantastic bicycle ride to raise money to find a cure for MS - awesome cause! So three years ago I started training and rode 35 miles day 1 and 35 miles day 2. Definitely one of my hardest accomplishments up to that point and one that left me ready to take on new health and fitness challenges.
Around that time I also moved down to Florida to be with my boy, who we will call The Brit. As with most relationships, I saw my weight creep up but I kept up the training and for the second MS ride, upped my distance to 50 miles day 1 and 35 miles day 2. When I got back to Florida, I set a goal for the next ride of 75 miles day 1 and either 35 or 50 day 2.
As the race approached, The Brit had to sit me down and have a very frank discussion about my goals - I just wasn't ready and he was worried about me. Even though I knew he was right (my longest ride to then was 40 miles and I was wrecked after) I was devastated! Not only was I not going to hit my distance goal, I also realized that I had not hit a single health goal I had set out for myself that year. Commence Melt Down.
After a couple of no fun days in our house, The Brit once again sat me down (as we all know, when Mama's not happy, no one in the house is happy). My sister also had a similar chat with me and both pretty much said the same thing - if you didn't achieve a single goal, maybe they were not realistic. OUCH
So The Brit and I set out a new challenge - one that was very realistic, motivating and key for me, not focused on numbers (I tend to get a little obsessed with the scale). My new challenge? I created a prize jar and for every workout and every day within my calorie goal (check out myfitnesspal.com), I put $5 in my jar. If I hit my goal of 4 workouts and 4 days in goal each week, not only do I get to use that money for our trip to New Zealand, but The Brit would match it. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
So where am I today you may ask? Well 10 weeks in, not only am I on target, I've lost 4 pounds since the challenge started, for a total of 10 this year. I'm much more conscious of my eating habits and I'm actually enjoying my workouts. And for the first time, I feel like this is more of a lifestyle change than a diet. If I'm really craving something, I either try to make a healthy version of it or make sure I get in a solid workout so I don't undo all my hard work. There's no more of a "oh well I've blown it" mentality. It's now, ok tomorrow will be better. Don't get me wrong, it's not all perfect and easy peasy. I allow myself too many cheat days and often, those days are waaayyyyy out of control so I know I still have a lot of work and mindset changes ahead of me but I have an awesome support group so I'm confident this time, I'll hit my goals!
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