Friend Makin' Monday: The Driving Force

We had an awesome and exciting weekend...I'll share it with you soon.  But now it's Monday and that means it's time for...

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!


FMM: The Driving Force

What is the driving force behind your weight-loss?

When I first saw this question, I didn't think I had an answer.  A driving force?  What's that supposed to mean?  But the more I thought about it, the more I realize, I do have a driving force.  What is it you ask?  To be healthy.   Not just to get to a certain weight.  In fact, I don't know if I'll ever reach my "goal" weight since my body seems to like where it's at now--and that's okay.  Because I feel good!

I've started with my second round of the Accountability Adventure.  I love to have people to make me accountable for getting healthier.  I love how I feel after I run a 5k, after I finish a greuling weight-lifting session, or when I choose to eat an apple instead of a donut. 

I want to be around for a long time, for my family, my husband, our future kids.  I want to be an example to others; my body is a temple and it is my responsibility to keep it healthy so that I can live life to the fullest.  And that is my driving force.

Accountability Adventure Update

Last month I shared with you the Accountability Adventure that I took part in.  Someone made a Facebook group for the participants and it was really neat to see everyone encouraging each other, sharing tips, beneficial articles, and lifting each other up.

The adventure came to an end last week (I know I'm late in sharing this), and I'm really proud of my accomplishment!  Over the course of the 4 week adventure we were challenged to do a variety of activities (see details here) to earn a maximum of 26 points a week (78 per team) for a grand total of 104 points per person (312 per team).  I got a perfect score of 104 points for the entire 4 weeks!

Not only did I feel healthier because I was making better food choices, I was also able to see those results in my body.  I lost a total of 8 pounds!  So I am now halfway to my "ideal" weight.  I also lost 1 inch from each thigh, 2 inches from my hips, and 1-1/2 inches from my waist.  I can see definition in my legs, thighs, arms and stomach that wasn't there before.

I just want to take a minute to encourage you if you are on a weight loss or get healthier journey.  You can do it!  If you have a group of friends who are working toward a similar goal, support each other.  Maybe exercise together or spend some time making healthy meals with each other.  They say 2 are better than 1 and that is so true!

Accountability Adventure

I've recently embarked upon an adventure--an accountability adventure.  It's basically a group of women who are trying to make healthier lifestyle choices, support each other, and engage in some friendly competition at the same time. 

There are 6 teams, of 3 women each, that are participating in this adventure. Each week we have the goal of getting 26 points.  You can earn points by
*Working out 5 times a week (1 point each time, max of 5 points)
*Doing strength training exercises 2 times a week (1 point)
*Journaling what you eat each day along with the calorie count (1 point each day, max of 5)
*Eating 2 servings each of fruits and veggies a day (1 point each day, max of 7)
*Drinking 6 glasses of liquid a day, at least 4 of water (1 point each day, max of 7)
*Weight loss (1 point)

We weigh in each Friday, and then over the weekend the team leaders report their team's score for the previous week.  Out of a total of 78 points possible, my team got 75 last week.  We all lost weight, a combined total of 11.2 pounds!  I lost 5.2 pounds the first week!  Tomorrow is our next weigh-in day, I think I'll be down again, but I don't know that I'll be able to pull the number I did last week!

I still have about 10 pounds to go before I reach my goal. I'm not sure why this program is working for me when doing it on my own hasn't.  I had been tracking my calories, as well as exercising 6 days a week, and eating all my fruits and veggies before I started this adventure.  I wonder if maybe the water is doing the trick, I used to struggle to drink 1 bottle of water a day and now I can easily drink 3!  I think having some competition is also beneficial as well as making sure I get all my points so I don't bring my teammates down.  This accountability thing really works! :)

Success or failure

Source

Do you ever wonder if we, as a society, have such great expectations that we set ourselves up for failure?  I follow quite a few fitness/weight-loss blogs, and I have many friends (myself included) who are on a journey to get healthier and/or lose weight. 
While I quite often see posts rejoicing in a faster mile time, or lost weight, I also see posts where my friends are putting themselves down and kicking themselves for not losing "enough" weight or not setting a personal record.  I've been in that boat...I have some stubborn weight that I've gained since my wedding, and I just can't get rid of it!  It seems we're just not happy unless we can run a sub-30 5k, or lose 15 pounds.  But where do we get that from?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm with everyone else, striving for the best run time and to drop this stubborn weight, but don't you think we're a little hard on ourselves?  I know when I see shows like "Biggest Loser" and I see the dramatic transformations in the lives of the contestants, I want to acheive results like them!  But is that really possible?

We expect "Biggest Loser" results, but they are living a completely different lifestyle than most of us.  They are isolated on the ranch, with (presumably) only healthy foods to eat, no jobs to go to, and the opportunity to exercise 10+ hours per day!  No wonder they're dropping the weight they are! Now look at us: we go to work every day, eat the food that we have in our house and try to resist the temptation of that cookie (running a food blog doesn't help here!), and with all the other responsiblities of running a household, we're lucky to squeeze in an hour of exercise.

I do have to give shows like "Biggest Loser" credit, because I think what they do is awesome, they really are changing people's lives.  However, I think it also sets us up for unrealisitic expectations.  Now when I get on the scale each week only to find out that I gained a pound instead of losing one (or more), I'm disappointed.  I think, why can't I lose weight like those other people?  What am I doing wrong?  I might as well give up!  Instead, I should be focusing on the fact that I worked out every day that week, I have gained muscle mass (probably hopefully the cause for the weight gain), I feel stronger, and I feel healthier! 

I wonder how our perspectives would change if we looked at the positives intead of the negatives.  Rather than I'm fat, ugly, lazy, worthless, why don't we focus on I'm getting fit, I'm eating healthy, I have more energy.  I really think in time our perspectives would change and we'd feel good in our own skin!  Not only that, but I really believe that if we have a positive outlook, we'll start making positive choices which will (theoretically) lead to us acheiving our personal goals!

Let's focus on setting ourselves up for success!

(Thanks for listening to my ramblings, I've been thinking about this for a while, it just took some time to put it into the right words.)