Material Motivation

Call me materialistic, but sometimes buying something new is really motivating to me. A new workout outfit, a new fitness gadget, new shoes, or whatever is sometimes just the thing to get me out of a rut.

I just bought myself a "get back in shape" present that I'm really excited about. A Garmin GPS running watch. They just came out with a new one, the Garmin Forerunner 10.

It tracks my mileage, pace, calories burned, and I can set goals of how fast/slow I want to go, and it will tell me if I'm on target or not. I haven't really had a chance to play with it yet, but I'm excited to get running again! I'll post a better review once I get a chance to test it out more.

What about you? Do you use material motivation? Do you think it works to get you going? What are some of your favorites? What about using it as a reward for reaching certain milestones?

Back in the Saddle

I went to my 6-week, post-baby checkup yesterday and got cleared to start exercising again. This is it, no more excuses. I need to start sometime, even if it's with small things. So yesterday I started keeping a food journal, having a 90 oz. water drinking goal, and today I started exercising. Those are the goals for this week. I gotta start with baby steps...journaling, drinking water, and doing some form of exercise.

I'm not gonna lie, yesterday was hard. I struggled with not eating junk. My 6-week-old baby has been SUPER fussy so I finally took him into the doctor to see if anything can be done to help him. Between that appointment, and my own doctor's appointment, I was on the go for a lot of the day.

I gave in and went to the drive-thru at Wendy's for lunch. But I got a small chili and a grilled chicken wrap. I dub that as a pretty decent choice. And I threw something in the crockpot for dinner, so when I got home from the doctor, I had something ready to go. I could have done better, but I could have done worse. And I wrote everything down in my food journal. I'm counting it as a good first day.

Today I got up early and did my first post-baby workout. Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, Level 1. Honestly, I felt kind of lame because I was struggling to do this workout, and remembering that back in my fitter days, this was an easy one. But I can't compare myself to then. So I'm considering it a good workout.

So all in all, I'd say....so far, so good. And I'm back in the saddle again.

And as much as I hate to do this, and as ugly as it is, I'm going to post my "BEFORE" weight and measurements. It'll keep me accountable, right?

Starting weight: 190 lbs
Waist: 36"
Hips: 44"
Bust: 42"

GOAL WEIGHT = 150 lbs. That means I've got 40 to lose.

And here's the "BEFORE" picture. It's not pretty, I'm warning you, but it'll be something to start from, and a good way to see my progress.)

Halloween, October 31, 2012. (2 weeks post-baby)

Third time's the charm

This is not my first time trying to get in shape and get healthy. I've been at it twice before.

The first time I lost about 50 lbs. I felt great! I learned how to eat healthy, how to exercise...I even ran a marathon.

Weight Loss Attempt #1

Then I got pregnant with my first child and gained most of it back. I did ok at exercising throughout the pregnancy, but once my little girl was born, it was SO HARD to get back on track.

Weight Loss Attempt #2

But I did ok, lost most of the baby weight and even completed a 100-mile bike race and got back up to running a 10K distance. But I never got back to where I wanted to be before I got pregnant again.

But throughout this most recent pregnancy, I felt so miserable throughout the entire 9 months that I was not able to exercise much and was too tired, sick and lazy to cook very well.

Which brings me to now. The third go-around of this whole weight loss thing. Only this time, I want to focus more on just being healthy. Yes, I want to lose weight, but the more important thing is to become healthy again. Both physically and mentally. No more laziness. I'm not quite sure exactly how I'm going to do it, but I NEED to, which is why I started this blog. So, here's for hoping the third time's the charm.

Operation: Get Healthy (Again)

So, what is this all about anyway? The Wellness Revolution is my effort to get myself healthy again--physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I believe that physical health is really only part of the key to being healthy. It's got to be driven by the other aspects in order to be effective and lasting.

I used to be healthy. And then life took over, and my wellness fell by the wayside. I can pretty much pinpoint this to having my first child. Becoming a mother was such a huge change in my life, and it was a big challenge. I didn't quite know how to deal with all the new responsibilities and struggles of being a mother, yet leave room for taking care of myself. And to be honest, I still don't. But it's time to figure it out.

Motherhood is hard for me. To some, it comes natural, but for me, it's a challenge. Don't get me wrong, I love my children to death, and wouldn't trade them for anything. And it's partly for them that I want to get healthy again. I don't want them to have a lazy, dragging, tired mom. I want to have more energy to play and run with them. I want them to see a confident, beautiful, vibrant, healthy mom who loves life (and her body), teaches them healthy habits, and encourages them not to be lazy (like I have been lately), but to live up to their potential.

I'm tired of being lazy. I'm tired of my health taking a backseat in my life. It's time to make it a priority again. I just gave birth to my second child. I gained a lot of weight and developed a lot of unhealthy habits during my pregnancy. Sometimes I feel like when I had kids, my body was not my own anymore. It's time to regain control and start developing those healthy habits again. I know it's going to be hard, but I believe it will be worth it.

And so The Wellness Revolution is born. I'm going to document my journey--the good, the bad, and probably even the ugly at times. And I hope it will give me the support, accountability, and motivation I need to do this.