What Inspires You?

I felt great on Tuesday!  It was my weigh in day and I discovered that I had finally lost 3.4 pounds.  True to form, on Tuesday night, I ate.  I didn't make bad choices, I just ate way to much of the good choices.  Lesson to all:  if you eat a ton of something, you've still eaten a ton.  Moderation is always the key, but sometimes we let our tastebuds or our emotions run the show rather than the determination of our mind.

I justified myself these past two days with the excuse of "at least I made better choices".  Justifiction, excuses...these are bad words for me...just like the word "approximately".  If I give myself an inch - I'll take a mile. 

So all of this got me to thinking.  Several seasons ago there was a gal on The Biggest Loser (my favorite TV show).  Her name was Suzy Peston and she was one of the final three players for that particular season.  Once she got home for the final portion of the game, she too found herself in the same situation I just described.  She was addicted to fudgecicles.  She finally realized that she was eating several fudgecicles a day.  She would get stressed, she went for a fudgecicle.  So what did she do?  She threw the box away.  That story inspires me.   Suzy realized that her good choice was only good when she had control over it.  I'm learning more and more every day that I need to have the control over what goes into my mouth, both good and bad.

My husband, Michael, was so excited when we decided to join the local gym.  He's wanted to join a gym for the last several years, but I'm tight with money (on certain things) and with the absence of something close by, I felt it would be like the other times we had joined a gym - we would go for a couple of weeks, and then fall of the wagon (so to speak).  But guess what...he goes nearly every day.  He not only goes regularly, he goes at 4:00 in the morning.  He's dedicated himself to the commitment he made to work out and he really seems to be enjoying it.  That inspires me. 

My sister-in-law, Kirsten, started this journey with me last year.  Kirsten has always been the type of person to see a challenge and meet it head on.  She worked out religiously, tracked her points regularly, and changed her lifestyle.  As a result, she's lost a tremendous amount of weight and has kept it off.  What's more, she has continually exceeded her own expectation and pushed herself to a new level of activity.  She holds herself accountable, and works every day to make the right choices.  Sure there are days that she thinks a choice could have been different, but she is determined and focused and is a true success story in my opinion.  She inspires me.

These are only a few examples of what inspires me.  I'm inspired in so many aspects of my life, and these are only the tip of the iceburg for what inspires me to lose weight.  My best inspiration is the two beautiful girls that live in my house who tell me almost daily, "you can do this mommy."  They stand beside me while I do a simple workout on the Wii, running the lap or marching to the Wii band (that is fun).  They get on my balance ball (whom they have affectionately named Mrs. Peanut) and bounce around to show me the types of things that can be done on it (I think they are miniature versions of Jillian Michaels).  They even try to give me goals to reach and tempt me with rewards (Mom, we can go on a bike ride if you do this....).  I love that they have embraced the idea of a healthy life, and that they push me to keep my focus on making better choices. 

As I've said before, today is a new day, and so is tomorrow.  I'm ready for the gym tonight and plan to continue on the track to a healthy life.  This week, I have a goal.  I want to lose weight and feel better.  It only takes one pound at a time.