Today is the first day of the rest of your life

I know the hardest part of starting a workout program or a diet is motivation. You start off with this time-to-get-my-butt-in-gear attitude but then it fizzles out in a week. Or you have an event on the weekend, food is involved, you overindulge, the guilt sets in, Monday you feel like a failure and quitting seems like the only option. It's a crappy feeling. It's one of the toughest hurdles in weight loss. This year was the first year that I finally passed that hurdle and now my motivation is on autopilot. So here's what I did:

1) I set a "birth" date. Weird I know. Sounds sort of new age and slightly cult like. It's more innocent than that. Actually it's a bit cheesy. It stems from the saying "today is the first day of the rest of your life". Basically set a date to start your new life. It's the date you will leave your guilt behind, old habits behind, your fears and preconceived notions behind. February 16th was the date I decided to start fresh. I decided to do the exact opposite of what I've done in the past. So instead of starving myself to lose weight I decided to set up an eating schedule. Instead of looking at a 3 month workout program w/ just the end in site I decided to just look forward to it day by day and enjoy the process. Why repeat the same old habits if that's what got me into this mess in the first place?

2) Live day by day. One of the philosophies in drug rehabilitation is to take each day one at a time. Don't think about 3 months from now just think about today. Live today, not tomorrow, not yesterday. This really helps. So everyday I had 2 goals: work out and write down what I ate. I made it a priority. I didn't think about what tomorrow's workout was going to be nor did I think about the weight I was going to lose 7 days from then. I just kept focused on the 2 little goals for the day. Before I knew it the days were flying by. I think this worked because the focus was not on a certain date for weight loss. It's easier to manage one day at a time then a whole month at a time. Follow your daily goals the way you would brushing your teeth and showering.

3) Accountability. I started off with a bang! I took before pictures. I started a blog (www.chaleanextreme90dayjourney.blogspot.com). I told EVERYONE about it. It kept me motivated because I didn't want to feel like a chooch for not pulling through. It was great to have a support system where people were excited to see my results. Now to keep the accountability going I use the Beachbody coaching program - I have to be a "product of the product" so it's important to keep in shape. Let people know what you're doing.

These 3 were the big ones for me. Hopefully they'll help you get started on your weight loss success story. After about 3 weeks of doing something it becomes a habit that's why my motivation and dedication is on autopilot ...It'll happen to you!

Cya!