February recap

We are starting a new month, so this is the perfect time to look back at February and see how I did according to my Happy Face Rewards system.

Recap of my Happy Face Rewards system: I reward myself a happy face sticker on a calendar in my bedroom every time I accomplished a health-related goal for that day.

Here is the key I'm using:

• Red happy face sticker---Took a multivitamin


• Blue happy face sticker---Drank 64 ounces of water


• Yellow happy face sticker--Work out at the gym


• Pink happy face sticker--Did yoga


• Green happy face sticker--5 servings of fruits and vegetables


• Purple happy face sticker--No fast food or restaurant food

I am taking this health journey slow and steady. I want it to LAST. I want this to be a LIFESTYLE change. I am not looking for quick fixes. I'm trying to change my life. And that won't happen overnight.

So even just ONE sticker in the month of February in any of these categories would be an improvement. That would be progress.

But my goal is to get these down---where I have at least 25 per month---then add new categories that are more challenging. In March, I'm keeping the same categories, because as you will see I still have a ways to go to make these 6 things a regular part of my life!

Out of 28 days in February (3 of which I was out of town and did not use stickers at all)---so we're really looking at 25 eligible days.

• I earned the RED happy face sticker (taking a multivitamin) the most with all 25 days!! So 100 percent of the eligible days in February, I took a multivitamin!! That is HUGE progress in my health and fitness journey. In January---I didn't take a multivitamin even one day. So wooo-hooooo for me!!!



• I earned the YELLOW happy face sticker (workout at the gym) the second most with 15 days out of 25 days, which is 60 percent of all eligible days in February. I really slacked off in this category last week, otherwise I was on track for a much higher percentage. But 15 days is AWESOME!!! I'm very proud of myself for that and another HUGE amount of progress in my health and fitness journey. In January, I probably went about 5 days.
  
  
• I earned the PINK happy face sticker (yoga) 6 times---I do yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so really there was 8 opportunities for this. I want to increase that at some point, but for now I'm going for twice a week. Six times of doing yoga in February is awesome. Again--it's all about progress and improvement over last month, which that is.

Now I have a LOT of room for improvement in the next 3 categories!

• I earned the GREEN sticker (5 servings of fruits and vegetables) 7 times out of 25 days, which is 28 percent of the time. Not great, but I guarantee in January I would have earned this sticker zero times. So this is a HUGE improvement and definitely progress. So I'm very proud of myself.


• I earned the BLUE sticker (at least 64 ounces of water) 5 times out of 25 days, which is 20 percent. Again, lots of room for improvement but I would have earned this sticker zero times in January. So progress. Moving in the right direction.


• And finally, this is the one I'm most concerned about. I earned the PURPLE sticker (no fast food or bad restaurant food) only TWO times in all of February!! OMG!! Can we all identify the main problem in my getting healthy and fit journey right now? Yeah. I love convenience. I love cheap food. It's just plain lazy. And restaurant food is sooo good. It's so hard to order something healthy!!

Of course, these are all terrible excuses. It's about making the right choices. When I order a McSkillet burrito in the McDonald's drive-thru, I'm choosing to stay fat. That is my choice at that moment. When I have a chicken quesadilla for lunch, I'm again choosing to stay fat. I'm not choosing health and fitness.

I have the choice to get healthy and fit many times throughout the day and or make the choice to stay fat. I have to make better choices.

So in March, my goal is to improve in EVERY category. It's all about progress. Taking one step at a time. I'm very proud of myself!!

Back from casting

I went to the Biggest Loser casting on Saturday and had a very interesting experience! I'm so happy I went!

I did not get a callback. Honestly, once I got there and got to know some of the people, I knew I wasn't getting a callback. There were people there with AMAZING, heartbreaking stories. I kept thinking, "Wow! I don't have a chance against these people! I'm just fat!!"

But it was very beneficial for me to be there. I saw all these very overweight people pouring out their hearts about how their weight affects their lives and how miserable they are. They all said they were ready to work hard and make the change now.

But in the next breath, they talked about how they've tried out for every season for the last several years. So were they really "ready" to make the change every year?

I don't know. There's just something really unsettling to me about that. I do NOT want to be one of those people who try out year after year and say I'm "ready" for a change because my life is so miserable, but wait around on a reality show to make that change for me.

We do have control over what we put in our mouths and how often we move our bodies. I know it's hard and it's not convenient. But most of us do have control and we CAN do it on our own. We don't NEED the Biggest Loser for us to lose this weight and improve our lives.

So if I'm really READY to make this change, then I won't be eligible to try out next year because I will have made the change myself. Now it won't happen as fast as being on a reality show where I can work out 8 hours a day and not be tempted by McDonalds and Taco Bell.

But I CAN do it. It IS under my control.

I'm fat because I eat bad foods. I'm fat because I eat more food than my body needs. I'm fat because I don't exercise as much as I can. I'm fat because I watch too much television.

It has nothing to do with whether I've been cast on a reality television show.

I can do this.