A Goal Properly Set is Halfway Reached

Hello all of my lovely readers. I feel so blessed to have my life to share with you all and even more blessed that so many of you care enough about me, to continue to read my ramblings everyday =)

Today's topic is about, you guessed it, setting goals.

After watching Thintervention last night, I was so disgusted with one (count: almost all) of the participants. It was amazing in the end though. One of the ladies experienced something that I experience every day that I push myself extremely hard. "the zone". It is the feeling I get when running, this amazing clearness of mind body and soul and it feels great. There is no question of stopping it's just GO. Jackie kept telling them to access their "inner warrior" but what does that even MEAN?!

W is constantly telling us to push through the pain, which is essentially the same thing. There are a million different ways to say this, and of course you can understand the concept, but can you put it into action?

It is SO much easier to give up. I used to tell D that he could never understand what it feels like to be fat because he's always been tall, skinny and athletic and he had no idea what it felt like to come from a family of obesity. I actually thought he was kind of a loser in that aspect. How strong could he be if he didn't go through what I went through? I threw MYSELF a pity party. I may hate pity from others but man, I love to sympathize with myself.

I know differently now. Yes it is hard to be overweight, obese and come from a long family line of obesity. That doesn't mean you have to follow the cycle. It's the same as any other situation you may come from. Just because you were brought up on welfare doesn't mean you have to succumb and continue to stay on it all your life. In fact, face it...you're weak if you do.

Setting SMALL goals is a way to get immediate gratification. My first small goal was to reach ten pounds lost. I did that in two weeks. The problem then came when I didn't reach my 25lbs lost fast enough. I thought for sure because I have dropped 30lbs in 6 weeks before that now that I was adding working out I would drop it in no time flat. Not true. The truth is I am eating better now, not starving myself and of course I'm gaining muscle. It's going to be a longer progression but my short term goals are helping me in this journey.

The next goal is to drop 25lbs. I am 7lbs away.  I KNOW I can do this by the end of this boot camp cycle. I just have to continue to step up to the plate. Sure, I could give in when I'm at boot camp, when W says to run two laps around the track, I could say eh, no thanks. He wouldn't yell at me or even judge me (at least to my face)...but is that truly going to help me accomplish my goal? Who am I cheating? I'm not cheating him, I'm cheating myself.

So the next time you are contemplating whether or not you want to get up and go for that extra jog or an extra ten push-ups, ask yourself if it will help you reach your goal. The answer will always be yes. No one can carry you on their back. The more weight I'm losing, the easier it is for me to run. I can hold more of myself up now. Not just because I'm gaining muscle, but because I'm losing some of that weight that I found so hard to carry.

It was a rainy day in boot camp today but I gotta give it up for myself. I went, fought hard for my life and pushed. It feels great.

My only hope is that everyone out there gets up, gets out and does something. Whether it be in your career, relationship or health wise. Setting a small goal will help you achieve your dreams. Trust. This small town girl from the Midwest who came from nada did it once and I can do even more this time. =)

xo,
K

Day 1 of Bootcamp

Hello (if anyone is reading this) -

Welcome!

Today was my first day of bootcamp. Was it hard? WORSE than hard. Did I cry? Yes. Did I throw up? Oddly enough, I didn't, but I almost did.

A little of backstory - I had been looking at this particular bootcamp for over 3 months and wanting to join but really wanted that extra push of a friend to go with me. What do you know? I went to a friends baby shower and while there met a girl, L, and she was moving to Jersey City! Once she got here, I immediately asked her if she wanted to join with me! As soon as it came out of my mouth (or email) I regretted it. I thought omg I hope she doesn't take this the wrong way. But she didn't! She said YES immediately and off we went! 

Luckily our instructor is extremely understanding, but he's also FIRM. I've never worked out before. I just don't do it. But now starting everyday Monday through Friday from 6:45am - 7:50am, I will be letting the instructor (Let's call him W for arguments sake) W, hold me and my body hostage as I take on this journey.

This journey takes place outside during every season but the winter. Can you imagine?! Suits are walking past us and staring as they go to work but it was SUCH a motivator to keep pushing on. Could I do every exercise? Not at all. But my hope is that by the end, I can and I know I will.

This is a lifestyle change. It's not just about working out...it's about taking note of what I eat as well.

For starters, I had a peach this morning before the work out and when I came home, I had some (quite surprisingly) really great Blueberry Granola with Flax that you can get from Target for about 2.50 and it's so great.

I am utterly sore. Today was an upper body workout but I find that my legs are sore, my arms are sore, my back is sore...I'm just sore all over.

What's great about the bootcamp is all of the women are there to motivate and help each other. They understood it was my first day and I couldn't possibly get all of the steps down. And the instructor was more than helpful.

Not sure about lunch yet, probably 2 eggs and a piece of whole wheat toast.

I'm not going to deny myself food that I want. But I'm also not going to over indulge. NO ONE, I repeat NO ONE should be eating 3 cupcakes in one sitting and man, I totally used to be able to do that ha! Not anymore. After coming from bootcamp, I don't even WANT to drink a coffee or a latte or anything that could hinder what I did this morning. I pushed myself and hopefully in the upcoming days and weeks, I'll push myself harder and faster and I can only go one way...down. =) on the scale that is!