little things that make your day

One of the things that keeps me going during the winter months is that even though on most days the weather sucks, the days are getting longer - most days it's a modest 1 minute increase over the previous day, but every few days we're rewarded with a 2 minute increase in the amount of possible daylight (ever-present clouds permitting). It's just one of those little things that can help make your day.

Sorry for my mini absence, we had some glorious weather on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and you had better believe that Cammie and I took as much advantage of it as we could. The more seasonal weather is returning, which is ok I guess because it IS January... Yesterday and today I have been feeling a little under the weather, like I'm getting a cold - or maybe I actually have a really slight cold/virus something that just feels like I'm getting a cold, I don't know, I haven't had a real cold in at least 3 years...

Anyway, I'll be back with more actual content and motivational points (because there are TONS of them) soon. Hope you're week is going well, and if it's not - tomorrow is Friday!

don't stop, believein'

Day 2
Today's Motivation of the Day is brought to you by Valerie Bertinelli.

I came home from work today and was struggling with motivating myself to work out. I know I need to get into the habit of working out in the morning but the first day back to work after a week and a half off was not the day to do it. So I was sitting on the couch with Cammie, not really planning on working out (even though I had put my workout clothes on) when one of Valerie Bertinelli's Jenny Craig Commercials came on, I think she is so much more sincere about her weight loss and her success than Kirstie Alley and it is very inspiring, seeing her talk about meeting her goals gave me that little push that I needed to get on the treadmill. Thanks Val!

In general, it's tremendously inspiring and motivating to see the success of others. It makes me think of how great it feels to set a big goal and meet it. Thinking about feeling accomplished, fulfilled and that awesome sense of closure one gets when a big goal goal is met or obstacle is overcome really gets me focused on meeting my goals.

A quick note about food: I had Susan V's Green on Green soup for lunch today, one of the three soups I made this past weekend to freeze and stock up on for the next few weeks. This is the second time I've made this soup, and while it came out a bit differently this time - it's still delicious! Definitely try this one!

Goal Weight in '08

Day 1
Today I had a good day, great food and an awesome workout and just a little bit of temptation. :-)

For as much of January as I have topics for, I am going to focus on things that motivate me. Today's motivation point is clothes... I know it's shallow but it's one of the things that has motivated me all along and is something that continues to do so.

In 2003 or 2004 (I'm sorry I can't remember), when a good friend got engaged and asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, I tried to lose weight and was sort of successful because I knew that I'd be the biggest bridesmaid but I didn't want to feel totally horrible about it - fitting into that bridesmaids dress was a big motivational factor for me.

When I first started ETL all I could think about was being able to buy regular clothes. I couldn't comprehend what it would be like to become a runner or all of the attention I would recieve for losing the weight, but I could relate to how good it feels to buy clothes that you really like and feel great in them. It had been a long time since I had felt that way and I was eager to get that feeling back.

I've had to shop in the plus-size stores/departments since I was a young teenager, and I've always wanted to be able shop in the "normal" stores and look ok in the "normal" fashions. In some cases I can do these things now, but I am at the upper limit of being able to do so - it's surreal to go into a store and be able to pick up a blouse in the "Ladies" section and have it fit, I never think it will and I end up surprised every time. I need to reach my goal so I can shop in any store that I want to and not worry if the clothes will fit me.

Clothes motivate me because I want to stop window shopping and start actually wearing.