J. Michael's Motivation!

Jillian Michael's "Slim For Life" also had a lot of good tips for motivation. (I know I have been posting on her book a lot but she had some good stuff in there!)

She suggested you "become a better friend to yourself." (148). "Buy flowers for [your] bedroom, get [yourself]  a massage, rent the movie [you] want to watch. . . refer to [yourself] in respectful loving ways."  I can relate to this suggestion because I'm always making fun of myself and for the past year all my decisions were made for me and my boyfriend. I would rent movies I knew he wanted and buy food/drinks I knew he'd prefer. That definitely didn't help my weight! And I cleaned up after him all the time. It just leads to a really miserable existence when everything you do is for someone else. I probably would have felt differently if I reminded myself that I want it clean and was cleaning up for myself (except most of the mess was him. lol) All I mean to say is I still need to work on my mindset and viewing myself positively. He told me, when he said I was overweight, that all he really meant to get at is that he can tell I'm not confident and he wants me to be comfortable around him. He went about it ALL wrong, but the bottom line might have some truth to it. I don't love myself anymore and I need to work on that in order to find happiness. I read in Cosmo that 72% of women are annoyed with the man they live with but 98% say they can rely on their man. I think I'm part of that.

 She suggested: "Blog" (150), "Be a Team Player: its amazing how much help message boards and online communities can provide when you're living slim" (150). "Inundate yourself: surround yourself with images that inspire you to get slim." (152) "Dress for success: Buy a goal outfit that flatters your physique." (153). "Jam out: make a workout playlist" (155). "Be Trendy: try a fad workout like pole fitness, barre class, punk rope, ballroom dancing, or drum training" (156). "Shoot it: take before, during, and after pics" (156). "Start a rewards program: plan on doing something special when you achieve your goal." (157). "Dedicate the deed: create mental motivators by dedicating milestones...to someone or something important to them." (158). "Let love move you: Collect inspirational notes from people you love and post them on your treadmill. Or take a picture of a loved one and look at it during your workout." (158). "Take Baby Steps: Give yourself permission to do less and more often than not you'll end up doing as much, if not more, than you expected." (158). 

I think I've done a lot of these already but I could still add a few more to really drive home my motivations.  I obviously already blog, take pictures, am part of an online community (loseit), inundate myself (pinterest), have a rewards program, and I take baby steps when I really don't want to hit the gym or like last week, when I was sick. I think I could try a new trendy workout or dedicate the deed. 

All last week, every morning, I tried to give myself a little pep talk. It sounds lame, but I had to coach myself that it would be a good day. I would strive to burn more calories that day than the day before, or walk more miles than the day before. Simply just do one thing a little better than the day before. It helped me enjoy the week instead of just trying to get it over with. 

Tonight I have to work overnight. I'm not excited, and I know its going to throw off my workouts but I'm going to try really hard to burn the calories. 17 days until Spring! We just set the Lawn and Patio at my work and I get SOO excited for Spring as I look at all the gardening tools, the patio furniture, the grilling tools, and the bathing suits. :) I told my boyfriend my list of things I want to do when it gets warm. I can't wait!