My Reward System

A really good incentive for doing something you don't want to do or something that's just difficult is setting up a reward for yourself. I currently have a reward system in place for when I achieve these milestones: Reaching the next rank advancement of my job, reaching my goal weight and paying off my credit card debt.

The closest on the horizon of these goals is reaching my goal weight, although it's also pretty close to my rank advancement. So the first reward I thought of was - food. Being able to eat something that I've deprived myself of to reach my goal weight. But how silly would that be? "Youv'e reached your goal weight, so go ruin it now with fatty foods! Yay!" That's just crazy. But I think a lot of us are motivated by food rewards. I know when I'm teaching my High Schoolers, I motivate them with pizza and baked goods and candy all the time. That's horrible - but really, if there's anytime you can get away with it - it's when you're a teenager cuz it's all downhill from there.

So I refuse to sabotage my success that way, so I chose another reward. When I reach my goal weight - I am getting a mani/pedi. Simple. I know for some women, this is a weekly visit and not a special occassion. For me - spending money on something so frivoulous and unecessary is just not an option at this point in time. But I think that reaching my goal weight deserves a little splurging. I'll start putting away for it now, since I don't want the credit goal to take a hit due to this reward.

My reward for my rank advancement? My next piercing. That's right. I love piercings and tattoos and crazy colored hair and hate the idea of having to hold back on any of that for stupid corporate America. Seriously - you're saying that inspirational sayings tattooed on my body don't make me as talented or effective a worker? Eff off. A rank advancement in my job will symbolize that I am becoming more successful, and since that job isn't corporate and I don't have to answer to anyone - I will pierce, tattoo and color whatever I damn well please.

And the credit debt. Oh credit debt - started just about the same time my fitness journey did, in college! My biggest hurdle with the biggest payback. Once I'm at goal weight and advance in my job - I'll be able to afford paying off my debt so that I can then afford...getting my boob job! And I can't freeking wait. And if you know me, you know I'm not the kind of person who cares what other people think - so if you've got a problem with it, I'll tell you what - don't get 'em . I'm an adult, it's my body and I will do what I please with it. And just like the people who tell me I don't need to lose more weight - there are those who say I don't need them. But if you've read my blog before - you know that you actually DON'T know what I really look like. I suck in and push out all of my imperfections, so you've never actually seen a picture of how incredibly small and sad my chest really is. And once I get them done, you probably won't be able to tell the difference because they'll look like what you've been seeing in pictures. Except you just might start to see a lot more cleavage pics :)

So what are your rewards? What have you given yourself as an incentive to achieve a goal?

A Case Of The Mondays...

Sorry - but I just NEED to vent!

It happens - every Monday, without fail. I head into work with a positive attitude. I tell myself that I will not allow my surroundings to bring me down. I pep talk myself that it's my attitude that has to be positive, not my environment. Because if I have a positive attitude, that is what will keep me in a good mood - not the outside things that affect me. I spend the entire 40 minute ride listening to positive things and get determined to walk in with a smile. I park the car, take a deep breath and prepare to put all this positivity into action when I walk through the door.

And every Monday I walk in and within 60 seconds, I am pissed off, depressed, angry, upset or annoyed. Without fail. I try, I really do. But I'm just not strong enough to have my attitude battle all of the stupid B.S. I put up with on a daily basis. I can feel my soul slowly dying each second I have to spend at my job. And Mondays are the worst, because I spend the weekend doing what I want. I spend the weekend being smart and productive and working on my passion and doing things that really matter, that can change lives and that make me happy. Then Monday, I come into a pointless, soul-sucking, mind numbing idiot factory that I can't believe is still in business.

My job takes zero brain power. Which for some people may sound great, but I'm too intelligent to be stuck somewhere doing stupid sh*t that doesn't matter that doesn't require intelligence for people who have no intelligence and to be getting paid crap for it. Half the time, I complete a task - and have to stop and look it over just to make sure I did it correctly because I don't even remember going through the steps. I'm so on auto pilot to do work that takes no thought whatsoever - that I literally do things without committing any thought! So then I don't even realize that I did it. It's like breathing - you just do it naturally.

My place of business is very old school. They've literally been around since the 60s and apparently no one informed them that things are done a little differently now. Well why do we have to use e-mail instead? Why are we making this hand - written list in chicken scratch that no one can read online instead?

I'm not joking people. Imagine working in an office full of your grandparents. Not the cool, hip ones that know how to text - the ones that are stuck in a former life and just can not accept the way things are done today. Perfectly nice people - but you always have to show them how to use the internet, their phone, or anything technological at all. Don't get me wrong, I love grandparents. But if you're not willing to learn the modern technologies of business - then you need to retire and stop wasting my time.

And of course, they barely know how to do THEIR jobs but have no problem trying to tell me how to do mine. Please. Trust me I'm about ten steps ahead of you. No, you don't need to tell me when to order supplies. I'm quite capable of seeing when something is running low and ordering more before we run out. I actually know how to do my job - you should concentrate more on yours so I don't have people calling me daily saying they've left you several messages and you haven't returned their call. You've been doing this job for a hundred years. The same exact way. How is it possible that at this point - you still don't know which files are supposed to go in which bins according to what you need me to do for it? It hasn't changed. Ever. How are you still asking me - Where do I put this to get invoiced? SERIOUSLY?! The same effing place you've been putting it for the 20+ years you've worked here you moron!

I know that I'm lucky to have a job at all and I do appreciate that. But I'm not complacent. I'm not someone who thinks that you stay where you are just because you get a paycheck. Not only am I capable of more, but I deserve more and I will get it. I will not be unappy like this every day because life is just too short. And I am way too smart to be somewhere where I'm not learning anything new, am not challenged by my tasks and don't enjoy what I'm doing. I'm working full time here now, but I'm working part time on my fortune. And very soon - that part time work will turn into my full time work and I will never have to waste my time and efforts again. I'm SO looking forward to that day.

It's Not Always About The Scale

When you're working really hard on your fitness journey, you absolutey CAN NOT measure all of your progress by the scale. First of all - not all of your weight loss shows up on the scale. If you're building muscle and burning fat, the scale does not distinguish between muscle weight and fat weight. It won't tell you "hey, you burned 7 lbs. of fat but you gained 3lbs. of muscle" it will just tell you your 4lbs. down...

Click Here To View Full Post

What Muffin Top?

For the 3 people out there who don't know what a "muffin top" is when referring to a woman's body shape - let me quickly explain. The way modern jeans are designed, the waistband doesn't actually fit anywhere near a woman's waist. It actually sits somewhere below her belly button. Now the waist - that would make sense - it's a natural place in our bodies where our shape curves inward - the middle of the hourglass, if you will. But no - jeans are designed to hit in the middle of our belly fat where there is no natural indentation...
Click Here To View Full Post

Remember Your "Why"

For everything we do in life, there is a reason or a "why". Why do I go to work each day? I go because I need a job to make money to pay my bills. Why am I a free fitness coach? I coach because I know how hard the journey to getting fit can be and if there's any small thing I can do to help someone else on their journey, I want to do it. Why do I dress up and put on make-up and perfume? Because it makes me feel good to look and smell good.

Why do I workout every day? Because I didn't like the way being overweight made me feel. I set a goal in my head of how I want my body to look and I will continue to work towards that goal until I've reached it.

The reason that so many people give up on their weight loss or stop trying is because they forget their "why"...

Click Here To View Full Post

Ready, Set, Perfect!

It seems to me that a lot of people seem to be afraid of getting fit. They feel like since they don't know all the particulars, all the best rules and regimens - there's no point in even getting started. Sometimes, it's legitimate but sometimes - let's face it, it's just an excuse...
Click here to view full post

It's Tough Love, Baby

One of the hardest parts of losing weight for a lot of people is keeping the weight off. I feel like this is even harder for people who A)Lose a lot of weight very quickly or B)Lose the weight through surgical means...
Click here to see full post