Motivation is What Gets You Started

As Grace wrote last night, we finished our 2nd week of the Couch to 5K Plan, and I felt pretty good afterwards. I've never been much of a runner. I've always been the type to do Yoga, or sit on the couch and think A LOT about Yoga, but never actually follow through.

Me if I were a cat.

When I was a kid I remember going to the track with my dad and doing everything but exercise while he ran laps. I don't know what it is, but I've always had an issue with getting motivated to be active. I've been struggling with my weight my entire life, I've been on Weight Watchers and starvation diets. I know how to lose the weight, but for some reason I always find an excuse. "I'll start tomorrow.", "Well, Thanksgiving is coming up. I'll start after the holidays.", "But, it's my birthday month!", "I've worked so hard, I deserve this.".

I've probably made this excuse before too.

 Granted, I have lost a lot of weight since High School, (my peak weight was 227 lbs.) and I lost 50 lbs last summer. However, I've come to find out my summer weight loss was due to medication, and since I've stopped the medication I've gained 40 lbs. When I started gaining I remember telling myself that if I just started eating better and exercising I could lose the 5lbs I gained. If I'd forced myself to change my habits, I probably wouldn't have gained the weight I have.

Thankfully, I have Grace. She is helping kick me in the ass and remind me there is no quick and easy way to lose weight. It is a lifestyle change, plain and simple. The good thing about Grace and I is that we bring a lot of good, different ideas to the table. So, when we sat down and started discussing a plan to get fit we ended up with  comprehensive and diverse ideas that suited us both. Take for example that I don't believe in completely denying yourself anything. I've been told and read that completely denying yourself something you want just leads to a binge-fest later, and nobody wants that. The key to living healthy and still being able to indulge is portion control, and planning. If you know you're going to want dessert when you go out, ask your friends or family if they'll share something with you. This way, you get to eat that dessert you wanted, but you aren't eating 4 portions to yourself. I also am a big fan of the shot desserts.

Everyone gets what they want without the guilt. :)

I've also been trying really hard to cook meals at home, and saving going out for special occasions. I've become a huge fan of Skinny Taste. This lady is a freaking genius! She lists the portions, weight watchers points, calories and fat on all of her recipes. Did I mention they're to die for, and easy to customize? Last night I made Cilantro Lime Tilapia Tacos and Fiesta Lime Rice for dinner. (I know, a lesbian making fish tacos...haha.)  They were amazing, quick, and super easy! The best part is that it was entirely guilt free. I can't tell you how glad I am that found her blog.

Kind of how happy I am in this picture.

 
 Basically, awesome, guilt free food, and how amazing I feel after running has become my motivation. Not to mention Grace and I are in this together, and if I quit then that wouldn't be very supportive of me. I still need to get into the hang of healthy over convenience when I'm busy working, and start learning how to plan my meals and snacks around my work schedule, but I'm glad I've found some motivation to keep me going when I slip up. So what I want to know now is: What gets you motivated? Let us know below!