Motivation – or things that make me move more

In Mish’s video post this week she discussed motivation – and how we shouldn’t NEED it – because then we can turn around and say “I’m just not motivated” and suddenly – that’s an excuse for not working out.

I love Mish’s top tips, and I thought I would share them with you.

• ditch the “I need motivation”
• remember that consistency is the key
• strengthen your willpower muscle by saying NO regularly ie. No thanks, I don’t want that glass of wine
• adopt the 10min rule – just say “do 10mins, and then if you REALLY don’t feel like it, you can stop”
• JFDI! Take the emotion out of your workouts

Funnily enough, I had been busy thinking about various motivators, and I was going to post about just that – all the things that are motivating me right now. However I watched Mish’s video and have been trying to come up with a different term than ‘motivation’…so…let’s go with “things that drive me to move more and eat less”…

This week it’s these things:

1) I’M GONNA BE A BRIDESMAID!

I was so lucky to meet up with my bestie Natalie last week, as she was home from London for a visit. While we were out at lunch, she popped the question (I know, so romantic, over a glass of wine – hehe, anyone would think it was ME getting married, that’s how excited I am). I feel so honored to be part of and share their special day. 

Natalie and I

Of course, there will be photos. And dresses. And people looking at us. And I do NOT want to look like a heffer squeezed into a dress. So…this has become another huge motivator for me – I wanna be a hot slim bridesmaid!

2) Hellllllllllooooo Harry! I have mentioned Harry, my new Heart Rate monitor before – but I am in love. Seriously. Head over heels. I can’t wait to strap him on to my chest (right under the boobies, he loves it there) and glance lovingly down at his little numbers on my wrist… Harry is the number 2 reason I am moving more and eating less.

3) Almost every hour today I have needed to pee. Seriously, I am like a yo-yo – up and down and up and down to the bathroom and back. And this is the culprit.

When buying Harry in the weekend, the lovely young sales man must have seen me gazing longingly at the hot pink drink bottles behind the counter. Maybe I drooled a bit, I don’t know…but when he offered to throw it in for free, I nearly jumped for joy. I had been looking for a new drink bottle, one that MADE me want to guzzle water non stop. After reading Kez’s post about drinking more water, I had been trying my best to get some clear goodness as much as possible. Today, I have already filled my awesome hot pink bottle up 4 times! FOUR! That’s 2 litres of water right there….

…no wonder I have been a piddle pants all day. Gotta be good for ya!

4) Looking good in a new dress.

It has been so long since I purchased any clothes (saving for the OE and not fitting anything properly is a bit of a downer in the shopping department) – but while I was away on holiday last week I came across an Annah S. store. I kind of wandered around while the others tried things on, thinking “I don’t have money for any of this, and none of it will fit anyway”.

Right when we were about to leave I spotted the Tiger Dress on the sale rack, and thought…hell, no one is looking, I may as well give it a whirl. I came out of the changing room and all I heard was “OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO BUY IT”. I admit, I thought it was AMAZING. I loved it. It would be ~perfect~ for the upcoming wedding we are going to in Rarotonga.

It's super cute - right?

BUT.

I couldnt do it up. No matter how much I breathed in and squeezed, and the shop assistant heaved – that zipper wasnt going to do up. I was so so close.

I sadly put it back on the rack and left.

The next morning I was still thinking about the dress, and how gorgeous it was (and how it was reduced from $290…total bargain!)…and so Jase came back to the shop with me to give his opinion. He told me to buy it. He said “you will fit into that in no time, you just have to lose a couple more kilos and that zip will slide up”.

So I bought it. It’s the most crazy insane thing – I have never ever bought something I DONT FIT that has cost that much money before. But…it’s a massive motivation for me! I MUST FIT THIS DRESS by the end of April.

I know - SO close!

See what a teeny tiny way I have to go?!

Oh…and while I was at it, I happened to find the Tortoise Dress, and spurred on by Jase’s raised eyebrows, dropped jaw, and stuttering – I thought, what the hell, let’s be reckless…and I put that on the credit card too. Well…it was down from $260…it would be a waste not to…right?!

 

So there we have it. My current motivators…ahem…sorry Mish…my current “things that are making me move more, and eat less”.

What are yours?

Get Real – No More Excuses

Getting back to my pre-season 12wbt tasks (the first one being “introduce yourself”- but you already know me) I thought I better crack the whip and get them done.

For task number two, Mish asks us to list our excuses. Most of my excuses are around food – mainly because 90% of the time I have no problem getting to the gym and working out. Although I do have to admit, that lack of motivation sometimes does hit me – and this is included in my list of excuses below.

These excuses are divided into Internal Excuses (the self talk), External Excuses that I can control (eg. weather, schedule) and External Excuses that I cannot control (eg. crisis at work).

Internal Excuses:

– I’m too tired to get to the gym today
– I don’t have the motivation. I need a friend to go with me
– I am too busy at work to do that lunchtime class after all
– There aren’t any classes on at the right times
– It’s too hard to find something healthy to eat while I am working/ takes too much time to prepare my meals
– I should be doing something else
– I have been trying so damn hard and not seeing any changes, I may as well give up
– This week is too busy with xx social functions on

Solutions to these Internal Excuses:

 

– Just get the damn shoes on the feet, get out the door and JFDI. Even if it’s just a walk, I know I will feel better having done SOMETHING

– No one can do the exercise for me. I can have support, which is great, but it is only me that can want this for myself. Hook up with gym buddies where I can, but do not let my schedule slip if I am feeling unmotivated. That will only make me feel worse about it.
– Get changed into my gym gear early for those lunch time classes, so I am already to go and have no excuses
– Find classes that fit within my schedule and do those. If none fit – then use the 12wbt gym machine programmes, or do a workout outside. Go for a run!

– Spend time on Sunday nights preparing my food plan for the week, doing the shopping and cooking and freezing meals so they are easy and quick to grab

– Ask Jason to do the washing/ cleaning so that I have time to focus on my food plans

– Don’t give up. Results will come when all the pieces of the weight loss puzzle combine. My body is different to everyone elses and I will see changes eventually

– Social functions – do I REALLY need to go? Will they miss me if I am not there? Or can I turn up late AFTER my workout? Make my workouts a priority

  

External Excuses – within my control

 

– It’s not my kitchen/ fridge (living with the in-laws) and there is no space for me to cook/ store my meals and food

– I’m too busy, there are a billion things on right now
– We get home so late (1 hour commute) so it’s too late to start cooking a meal

– It’s too hot/ It’s raining

– We eat out so much for work (lunch meetings, dinners etc) that how can I say no?

  

Solutions:

 

– Ask the M.I.L if I can store a few things in the fridge. Choose meals that are quick and easy to put together and require few ingredients. Plan ahead for the week and cook multiples and store in the fridge

– Schedule workouts in my diary at work, block out the time so that no one can request meetings then. Get changed into my gear early so that I can say “sorry, I am just off to the gym, can I catch up with you on that when I get back?”

– Create meals that I can just grab and go for the nights I am late home

– If it’s hot or raining – exercise in the air conditioned covered gym

– Look at menu’s before I go to restaurants and choose what I am going to order. Work out the calories prior. Or just say NO! I don’t need to be at every lunch/dinner!

  

External Excuses – Outside my control

  

– I am sick or hungover

  

Solutions:

 

– Don’t be hungover in the first place! Reduce alcohol, eat healthily when I am sick to help my body recover faster

So there you have it – those are my honest and truthful excuses, the things that are holding me back and dragging me down. I need to break through the self sabotage and just DO it because these excuses are roadblocks to what I want.

What kind of excuses do you have?

12 Weeks, 10 Kilograms

In EXACTLY 12 weeks time, I will no longer be living in Wellington. I will no longer be living in New Zealand.

In 12 weeks time, I will be standing somewhere in Vancouver (yep, CANADA) and I will be weighing 65kgs. That’s right. SIXTY FIVE kilograms.

I had a terrible weigh-in today. I had gained 700g to be 76.2kg. When I signed up to Weight Watchers in November I was 75.9kgs. How the HELL did I end up 300g heavier than I was when I was at rock bottom? Since that date all I have put in is effort, effort and more effort!

I want to analyse that weight gain, I want to create reasons and excuses and say things like “it must be because I weighed in at lunchtime, normally I weigh in at 8am with nothing in my stomach” or “I had drunk a litre of water, thats a whole kilo right there” – but you know what? There are no excuses. I need to accept that horrible number and move on.

Coz from here on in, that number is only going down.

I have SO many tools to help me right now, that failure is not an option.

• I track all my food online
• I am seeing my new personal trainer once or twice a week
• I made healthy and filling breakfast meals, lunches and dinners and froze them (think I will change it up for next week and add more fresh salads into the mix, while the quinoa is yummy as, I miss the variety)
• I have signed up to Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation. This kicks off on Monday and is going to be guiding me through the next 12 weeks – to my goal of 65kgs

So dear blog readers, I hope you will follow me on my journey. This blog is about to get overtaken by my weight loss story and updates.

The old switcheroonie

Who would I switch lives with for one day and why?

Hard one, but without going too D&M – I think If I could, it would be one of these two:

Jillian Michaels

Michelle Bridges

Why? Well, apart from how DAMN hot they are (especially Michelle, phwoar) – I would love to get inside their brain and work out how they made it click. You know, the whole exercise/food thing. Coz it seems like quite a few of us missed that brain cell – especially me.

I would learn what it is that gives them the drive to train so hard, and what it is that stops them eating junk. And if I could, I would bottle it & make millions from it…but seeing as that is highly unlikely, I would just like to take that scrap of knowledge & implant it into my brain so that I could look as hot as them.

😉