Self-bribery

So I haven't worked out at all for the past week. It started off because of my illness (you can't run when you can't breathe), and then as I started to feel better I wasn't sleeping well because of the coughing, so I was too tired, and then by this weekend I just became lazy. This is unacceptable. I would like to lose 10 pounds, and although I haven't been working out for the past week, I have been eating pretty well. I think I'm actually ready now to make the commitment to eating better and working out more so that I can lose this annoying weight. It has to be done before busy season, because I almost always gain a bit when I'm working 70 hour weeks.

And so, as an incentive to get my ass in gear, and also to keep myself away from the mall for a few months, I have decided that as soon as I lose 10 pounds I will buy myself the purse that I've been eyeing up. In reality, I think I could potentially lose 15 pounds, but I don't want to put that much pressure on myself quite yet.

I did have a bit of a "that's it" moment this weekend that made me decide to lose this damn weight once and for all. And I realize how ridiculous this sounds, but that's how I roll. I was trying on the dress I bought for Kelli's wedding in a few months. I actually bought it in December and was waiting on an occasion to wear it. When I tried it on at the store, I did so in a regular bra, knowing that I'd need a fancy low-back bra situation when I'd actually wear it. So I bought what has to be the only convertible bra that is made in my size on Saturday and tried it on with the dress. And no. My boobs to NOT fit in this dress. At all. I even tried without the bra on, and it was ridiculous. I got the dress on major sale (I think it was like $30), so it wouldn't be the end of the world if I couldn't wear it, but I was pissed. And I'm hoping that a major weight loss will cause my boobs to shrink, even slightly. I'm getting really tired of them. Do you know how long it's been since I could buy a button down shirt? It's absurd. Although I'd clearly also like some of the weight loss to come from the stomach and upper thigh regions, of course.

And so, once again, I'm going to lay out my plan here and hopefully this time it will stick. I'm going to continue to do 45 minute cardio sessions 5 times a week, and I'm going to mix them up, but I'm definitely adding a running/walking routine I read about in one of my magazines this month. When I'm out of town, I up the cardio to 60 minutes a day, because of the increased eating. I'm also going to work in 3 total-body strength training routines. Once I'm back in my house instead of out of town on business, I'm going to continue my 6 30-minute morning Wii Fit routines, and I'm going to add one 30-minute Pilates video a week.

As far as food goes, I'm definitely sticking to my on-the-road plan of eating salad for lunch every day. For breakfast I've been having fruit and cereal. I just have to be a bit better about dinner and avoid desserts. Once I'm home, breakfast will be a protein shake and fruit, morning snack will be two hard boiled egg whites and some fruit, lunch will be a salad (I'm going to make a different fancy salad for each week to keep me interested), afternoon snack will be some fruit and a whole grain cracker with peanut butter. Post gym I'll have a string cheese while I'm making dinner, which will be some kind of lean meat and lots of veggies, or a vegetarian option.

The most important thing I think is watching my portion sizes when I make things like pasta and risotto. The problem is that Blake doesn't eat lunch most days because he's so busy, so I make like 4 servings of these side dishes and I eat more than I intend to because when I only make 2 servings for dinner, Blake is still hungry. I'm going to try to be more careful about that.

Tomorrow, the games begin. And this will eventually be my prize: