Monday Motivation: What's next?

What progress, you ask, have I made? 

I have begun to be a friend to myself.
~Hecato, Greek philosopher

I love this quote because I really feel like the difference for me this year as compared to any other time I have wanted to be fit, lose weight etc.. is that I have been much more positive and less negatively critical of myself. There are really no "failed" attempts, just opportunities to improve and very little pressure. It is kinda nice to be nice to myself.

LISTS

I love list making. This weekend my husband and I travel with another couple who each had a bucket list. Bucket list, common idea right? Then why don't I have one? After talking to my husband about this I have had life/goal lists some written, some not, but never really labeled a bucket list. So this week I will be working on my "Living" Bucket List. Living because I know my goals in life will evolve and I want the list to grow with me. Stay tuned for that one.

Run or REST?

Now some updates: This past weekend was my birthday and we traveled to Mammoth Lakes, CA. What I was thinking was that this would be an amazing opportunity to train at elevation. Friday was a rest day for me and of all things, I sprained my ankle fly fishing. So there was no run Saturday or Sunday. A bit of a bummer, but at the same time a blessing in disguise. As a mother of 2 kids under 3 sleeping in instead of early morning runs seemed to be just what my body needed. 

Text Message Fitness Challenge

Now I am ready to get back on track, the ankle is doing much better tonight and I know I am going to be ready for this week. The first two weeks of this marathon training program have not gone well for me at all. The one thing I have going for me is that I chose an 18 week program to give me some training cushion, the longest run I have missed was only 8 miles, so I am not feeling too far behind my distance capabilities either. I have my next sprint triathlon in 2 weeks so I have devised a daily text message fitness challenge for myself and 5 girlfriends to help get me motivated. It's a 3xsomething challenge. We are all at different fitness levels, but these short exercises I think will be great ways for us to stay connected through fitness and be able to motivate each other daily with our text message updates. It starts today Monday 6/28 and ends Friday 7/9. What makes this different for me is that I am now responsible for detailing out the 3 exercises each day and accountability is a huge motivator for me. Unless I am accountable to someone I can tend to fall into my "Ambitious Slacker" persona. 

In other News

In other news after a crazy weekend of amazing food, wine and eating after 8:00, I am ready to get back to a more controlled eating schedule. I have been tracking my calories, but not staying in a healthy range. One weekend party binge is not that bad, but it is important that it not turn into a slippery slope type thing. So I am back on the wagon of generally not eating after 8:00 and tracking calories with the intention of staying within a weight loss range with my higher calorie days staying somewhere closer to a maintenance range than a ballooning up range.

Todays Text Message Workout Selections:

1. 3x10 jumping jacks
2. 3x25 sit ups
3. 3x10 donkey kicks (each leg)

Thankful Three

1. For friends who are willing to participate in my dorky challenges so that I can be successful
2. For a husband who buys me bike clip-ins as a birthday present
3. For feeling totally capable of achieving body image success...that's right, I said it. I am totally excited about how my body is changing in positive ways and I am super interested in stepping up my efforts to slim down and tone up in a MAINTAINABLE way.