No Excuses

It's no secret that I am a loyal fan of The Biggest Loser. I watch every episode, every season. It's so fascinating to see people transform right before your eyes. Who will the contestants pick & why? I always imagine myself getting to choose my trainer. When Jillian was there- she was my first choice every time. No offense to Bob- he was great too. I just knew Jillian had a great track record & her people won the most. I didn't mind the yelling/in-your-face approach either. And, I admit, I like that our names are similar. (For the record, my name is just Jill, not short for Jillian, or Jilleth as my husband & brother-in-law like to call me. Doesn't that remind you of Lilleth from Cheers/Frasier? Not a compliment, is it? Johnny says that's not what he thinks of. Anyway, babbling.)

Now that Jillian is gone, I have to say I really REALLY like Dolvett! And I'm not gonna be one of those gross mom's with an inappropriate crush. Haha! I like his story (abandoned/adopted/successful), his approach & results. He has the right amount of nice and the right amount of push. If I were on the Biggest Loser, I would choose to train with Dolvett. Who would you train with?

Last week we tuned in to the first episode of this season. I was super excited about it and we decided to "participate", which means workout consistently for the duration of the show. I was so bummed though because we both had colds. I felt horrible- chills, aches, pounding head and stuffy nose. It just wasn't possible to workout. The show was super-motivating! Each time they talked about the reasons we all have for not working out made me think about us and reflect on how we spend our time. I definitely wanted to do better. Then... I went to sleep. After about three days/nights of not sleeping well and feeling tired, I wondered if I really "needed" to workout. Maybe it was okay to just be like I am and continue doing what I do. I know I don't have a weight problem and I'm not as likely to have serious health problems, so maybe it's not necessary. I've gone back and forth in my mind as to why working out is a good thing for me, but hadn't had enough motivation to try it.

I've become so complacent and it's really affecting my perspective. I feel myself reverting to postpartum depression and not caring quite as much, feeling blah and getting easily frustrated. Most days I do what has to be done, but not really pushing myself too much. I rarely talk to anyone besides my kids and Johnny. (I know the door swings both ways & I should reach out to people- I'm not complaining, just stating the truth, as unpleasant as it is.) My point is, I haven't been doing as well as I could.

Today, I changed. (It IS Monday after-all!) I turned on the DVR, so I could listen to The Office while I did the dishes. Only, the episode was mislabeled and had recorded an infomercial instead. It was for Chalene Johnson's TurboFire. It looked really fun actually. Before I knew it, I had watched probably 15 minutes of it. It woke me up- I remembered when I consistently did TurboJam for 90 days and how good I felt and how much fun it was! At that time, I admit I did it for the results. But looking back I got so much more out of it- I felt good about myself, not because of how I looked, but because I was accomplishing something and sticking to something. I realized I did something that was hard and pushed myself and got better at it. I wasn't wasting my time or being selfish. Watching that infomercial today was the personal revelation I needed and had been fasting and praying for. To workout, I needed to do it for the right reason for me. "The results" weren't motivating for me. I couldn't make myself get off the couch and away from the movie to workout by telling myself I want to tone and look like whatever. My epiphany came when I realized I need to workout because I need to do something hard. I need to push myself every day. I need to feel good about myself because I'm doing something good for myself. I need the endorphins! My family needs this. Working out every day will give me that sense of accomplishment and hopefully, I'll be better.

I didn't even watch the whole infomercial, but what I watched was enough to trigger my thoughts and change my way of thinking. So, tonight, after I put the kids to bed, I turned on TurboJam Cardio Party Mix 1 and pushed myself for the entire 43 minutes. It felt great.

Tomorrow night, I'll be ready for The Biggest Loser, without any excuses.