Friday 6/29/07

I've really had a couple of good days with my eat! I've dropped a pound which I'm happy about but I really thought I would have seen a bit more of a drop - I have been spot on and I honestly thought a bigger portion of the excess water weight would have dropped. However, it is just about that TOM so I'm hoping that is the reason for the water retention. It doesn't really matter though, the important part is that I'm getting back on my program and I'm starting to see results! Baby steps will get me to my goal!!

MY GOALS! - I posted earlier that I would list my goals so here they are:

1. Long Term Goal - I will weigh 130# for my marathon on October 28th.
2. Six Week (Team) Goal - I will weigh 134# by the end of my team challenge on August 9th.
3. Weekly Goal - I will perform 420 minutes of exercise (cardio & resistance training) and weight 140# (the actual weekly weight goal will change but the exercise minutes will stay the same).

I will also be setting up some daily goals for myself. Things like drinking enough water or having extra veggies on a given day etc. If there is one thing that I've learned from LL it's that goals are huge. Most people never sit down and actually make them. They might have some vague idea about what they might want....someday but they never actually define what they are, write them down and then make them public. It is a huge step!

The other thing I'm doing is setting up a leverage. This is also something I learned about at LL. Simply, and this comes right from The Leanness Lifestyle book, it is "self-applied pressure to reinforce your focus and maintain your commitment through the journey. It establishes a cost for failing." There are different types but I'll let you purchase the LL book to read more about it! If you've never used a system like this, it is amazing. My leverage is financial (it doesn't have to be but that is what I chose). I have a savings account that I've set aside so that some day I can become an Elite member at LL. I'm taking $200 out of that account and if I don't make my goal it will be sent to the KKK - a group I absolutely despise! I'm also going to fine myself $25 each week that I don't make my weekly goal. That money will also go into the end leverage.

Another weekly leverage I will set up is a massage. I have never had one before and have always wanted one. This is a reverse leverage - you purchase the session before hand and if you make your goal, you get to keep/attend the session. If you don't make your goal you don't get to go to the session and you are out the money you paid for it. I hope that all made sense because a good leverage is SO effective!

Well, today is a rest day for my exercising. I may go for a nice easy spin on the bike trainer just to keep my legs loose but other than that, I'm taking it off. Tomorrow is my long run and I'm thrilled to be meeting up with a group and then going for a run on the trails. It will be my second group run of the week but my first one on the trails. I will have to travel a bit to get there but I think it is going to be a blast! The only thing that concerns me is the possible lack of bathrooms - I'm sure some of them have had the problem before too so I'll just follow their lead, so to speak.

POSITIVE NOTE: I just found out this morning that Tim has started to drive again. That is such wonderful news! I'm going to email Donna soon and leave a message on Tim's CarePage. I'm so excited to hear he is making progress. I will be writing my sponsor letter this weekend and hope to get it out early next week. For those who may have missed my earlier posts, I'm raising money for a co-worker's son who had to have a hear transplant due to a genetic problem. He is a young man and this is going to hit him hard financially. He already has enough on his plate and I'm hoping to raise a minimum of $3000 to help him out.