Fitness Friday: My Number-One Tip for Success

From now until the end of March, I will be giving a weekly P90X2 Progress Report. I will put it at the END of my Fitness Friday posts, so the 95% of you who couldn’t care less what I ate for dinner or if I lost an inch don’t have to read it. You’re welcome.

I am about to give you my absolute, number one, best tip to help you succeed in reaching your fitness goals this year: Name Your Why

Think of every single reason you want to be fit, healthy and/or lose weight, and write it down.

Be specific.

Be honest.

Be passionate.

Be aggressive. B-E-A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E!

That was me, regressing into 16-year-old Cheerleader Sandy. You don’t really have to be aggressive. Unless, of course, aggression helps you name your reasons for being fit and healthy. Then, by all means, get jiggy with your aggression!

This list is for your eyes only. But I highly recommend you keep it somewhere not too far from your vision (which may or may not include the eyes of your house-mates, or in my case, the entire world wide web): Your journal, your bathroom mirror, taped inside your kitchen cabinet, stuck to your fridge, stuck to your computer. Somewhere you can easily access the list. Especially when you are tempted to give up.

I’ve talked so many times on Fitness Friday about how the mental component affects your outcome. Mental resolve is powerful. It can make or break you. It’s a vital part of the fitness equation.

So, this is that. This is the essence of the mental component—the mental resolve. And this will help usher you from the excitement of making a New Year’s Resolution to the success of keeping it.

Here is my list as to why I chose a lofty fitness goal for the first quarter of 2012 (to complete P90X2), just so you can see how specific, honest, passionate and aggressive (?) I am.

1. I believe my primary purpose in life is to glorify God. I feel I do that best when I, among other things, take excellent care of my physical body.

2. I love the way I feel physically when I eat pure, whole foods and exercise regularly and intensely.

3. My mom had her first heart attack at the age of 53, when I was just 13 years old. From that point until she passed away at the age of 70, she suffered from serious heart-related ailments, including high blood pressure and cholesterol, additional heart attacks, strokes, bypass surgery and breast cancer (which isn’t heart-related, but still). She ultimately died from complications after carotid artery surgery. Genetics are not on my side. I have wonderful, warm memories of my mom and I miss her every single day; but in those memories, I have none of her living a healthy, vibrant life. I choose to do everything in my power to end that family cycle HERE,  with me.  I want my kids to have different memories of their mother, not filled with lengthy hospital stays and bed rest.  I want to be in a very different place at age 53 (which is only 10 years from now.)

4. I will someday stand before God and give an account as to how I raised my children. I want to teach my children to be good stewards of their health so they can glorify God in their bodies. Like it or not, they watch and often imitate everything I do, including what I eat and if I exercise. I want to model for them a life of health so they can make healthy choices now and in the future.

5. I struggle with clinical depression. Exercise and clean eating is one of the most effective ways to manage it.

6. I love the challenge of a very intense, short-term goal. To me, there is nothing quite like buckling down and conquering the hard thing. Much like a runner training for a marathon, completing P90X2 will give me a great sense of accomplishment. And then I will want to take a long nap.

7. Self-discipline is a fruit of the Spirit. When I discipline myself to eat well and exercise, it automatically spills over into every area of my life. I’m a better wife, a better mother, a better friend and a better Christian.

8. I have hundreds (thousands?) of people who read what I write and watch what I do. I want to be an inspiration to others to eat healthy foods they love, to find exercises they enjoy and to conquer health and fitness goals.

9. I have two bins of beautiful clothes in my basement that I can no longer wear because of my Lexapro weight gain. I want to wear those clothes again. (and then box up all the big-girl clothes in my closet right now!!!)

10. I can tell myself all day long that I’m okay with the 18 pounds (which, at times, crept up to 22 pounds!) I gained on Lexapro in 2009/2010. But truth-be-told, I really, really, really, really, really (REALLY!) want to lose it. I don’t like looking at pictures of myself from the chest down. I don’t like looking at myself in the mirror. I don’t feel good about the way I look on most days, even when I take a lot of time to get ready. I don’t like looking at pictures of me from prior to 2010 and think, “Look how fit/muscular/toned/thin I was!”

And for the record, I did NOT like wearing a skirted tankini last summer, in order to cover up 18 pounds of fat on my stomach and thighs. A skirted tankini is not a bathing suit. A skirted tankini is nothing more than an expensive spandex dress that floats up around your chest in water. It is not comfortable, neither is it conducive to swimming with children in a pool or ocean. I’d be better off wearing a sundress.

I know the day will come when I will need to cover up those areas because of age (sagging, veins, etc). THAT’S NOT TODAY! If I am going to wear a skirted tankini at age 43, I want it to be because it is my favorite bathing suit at the store and I feel gorgeous in it—not because the regular bathing suits don’t fit me.

(I told you: HONEST!)

That’s my list. Tell me one item on yours.

P90X2 Progress Report, Week 2

This is already a long post, so I will keep this brief.

1. P90X2 workouts are completely unique. I have never done anything like it. Phase One is chock-full of balance and core moves. Many of them on a stability ball or trying to perform pushups on medicine balls (say what??!!?). Plyocide, which is an ultra-intense cardio/jump-training routine is SO HARD and SO FUN! It’s my favorite, for sure. When I’m finished with it, I feel like Tom Cruise expressing my love for Katie Holmes on Oprah. Only cRaZiEr!

2. The diet/nutrition guide is awesome. I’ve made several of the dinner recipes (very easy to make!) and they have all been a big hit my fam—even the kiddos! Next week, I will give you an idea of what I’m eating and what I’m not.

3. And now, the best part…I can hardly believe this, since I didn’t even think it was possible…but since starting the program on Jan 2, I have lost FIVE POUNDS. Remember, it took me a full year to lose six pounds???? A year ago today, I weighed about 10 pounds more than I do right now (however, I was at the very high end of my weight gain—the 22 pounds end).  So, really, I still have 12 pounds to go.  But dude, I would be happy with seven more.  I really would.

Today, all my big-girl jeans are sagging—a feeling I have not felt in YEARS. Thank you, Jesus. Seriously. I can hardly believe it. If you have kept up with my saga of battling this weight gain, you know I’ve tried HARD to lose it. And you may also remember that I had one incident where I dropped 4 pounds in one week, and then put it right back on, even though I was eating right and working my tail off with a personal trainer. So, I don’t want to get too excited here (yeah, um, okay) but I think I may have found the winning combination for my crazy metabolism and stubborn weight.
Finally.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
Time will tell.

Related posts:
The Mental Side of Fitness, part one
The Mental Side of Fitness, part two