When I started the challenge with Daniel at the tail end of July, I did not expect to gain weight. Whomever loses the most weight, percentage wise, by October 13, will be the winner. The loser will pay for our anniversary dinner in November. I thought it would be smooth sailing. I would start running and I would eat better. Things started out swell but at every check in I felt disappointed. I know it has been a minute since I updated the Facebook Page with how the challenge is going and that is why. I gained six pounds in a month but I also learned a lot.
It’s important to have a support system!
Even though Daniel and I are competing against each other, he still cheers me on. Every single time I went out for a run or made it to the gym, he’d send me texts of encouragement or tell me on my FaceBook page that he was proud of me. On the days I would have rather slept in late, he would call me and tell me how perfect the morning could be for taking a run. If he didn’t do that, I can’t say for certain that I would have been out there most mornings. Self motivation is hard, especially in the beginning.
You should never compare yourself to others!
I knew before we started the challenge that how we lost weight individually would be drastically different. We agreed that a fair competition would be based on our total weight lost, percentage wise. So if I lost 5% to his 6%, I would be paying for our anniversary dinner. The formula works. I also felt confident that over a long span of time, the playing field was more level. In the beginning of the competition I knew he’d lose weight faster than I would. I would only have to remind myself that I had until October to win. Slow and steady wins the race for us ladies. At our third weigh in, that logic went out the window. While we had both gained weight, in that three week period I had only lost a little under a pound. It was a hard punch to the ego.
The only person who can really motivate you is …you.
While it is great to have extra people cheering you on, it ultimately comes down to you. You have to get up and motivate yourself to get ready and get out there. This is where I got stuck. After confirming that I did indeed gain six pounds over the month, I haven’t gone running and going to the gym seems like a hopeless cause. I continue staying on top of my portion size and choose smarter options when I eat. At our last weigh in, a friend of ours suggested weighing in every other week instead of every week. We missed our weigh in this past Monday because someone was in the room at our Dr’s office where the scale is kept. Yes, we didn’t trust the scale we’d been using to start. We were convinced that it was broken. The truth is I couldn’t face the fact that I had gained six pounds. :/
Have you started to change your life with eating healthy and exercise? Do you have any words of wisdom for someone starting out? What do you do to motivate yourself?
Until then,
