UPDATE!!!

So it's nearly been a month since I announced our FALL FITNESS CHALLENGE!!! I have to say, things are going better than I thought. 

The first week into the competition was awful - a lot of the same garbage I was up to in August (laziness, eating whatever I felt like, depressed nights, over-wheating) It wasn't until the second week that I really picked myself up and decided to actually give it a go. 

So far, I've had some good days and some bad. I've really been working on not giving in to the part of me that wants to just shut down at the end of the day. I realize I wasted so many hours just sitting around feeling bad for myself and that's not ok no matter how you paint it. So even on my red star days I'm working to stay positive. 

Keys to success
1 day at a time: The nice thing about assigning yourself a star for each day is that it really reinforces that EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY. I might have gotten a red star today, but I can still get a gold star tomorrow. 

Track, track, track: I know I'm more successful when I'm tracking everything I eat. As I mentioned in an earlier post MyFitnessPal is such a great app for that. It's mobile, it's detailed and it's EASY. When I get the craving to drive-thru instead of eating from my cupboards or going to the store, I pull out my phone and type in "McDonalds" to the search bar (MyFitnessPal's users have created a really detailed list of foods that include everything from the good to the bad and even the ugly). When I type in McDonalds and see that a Big Mac Meal with a diet coke is nearly 1000 calories....I can talk myself down WAY easier - because I don't have 2 hours to jump on the elliptical tonight, and I've already eaten half of my calories for the day. 

Scheduled work outs: I have the benefit of teaching classes 2-3 times/week and 3 gyms I could use for my work outs. Regardless of your limitations or accessibility I can't stress enough PLAN YOUR WORKOUTS!!! Set a date with yourself - I'm going to walk for 1 hour tonight, I'm going to do 100 pushups this morning, etc. 

Plan Ahead: If I didn't pack my lunch the night before I would hit up a fast food restaurant every day....I know this, because I lived that life for a couple of months (I was both poor AND chubby...so depressing). Plan it ahead and make it good. Plan for one thing you look forward to every day. I've been putting two pieces of lindt chocolate bar in my lunch every day for that - "UGH" moment of every day. A little chocolate goes a long way when it's so delicious, and because there are only two pieces in there, I only EAT two pieces. :)


SUCCESSES: 
1. 4.4lbs down!!!
2. One of my class participants that I haven't seen in a couple of weeks approached me at the gym last night and was wildly (and unexpectedly) complimentary of my "progress" - this was unsolicited btw. Thanks to his positive vibes I hit up the elliptical for an extra 10 minutes - it all counts!

Progress to date - Looking a little golder ;)