Feel Good Friday

Good morning, slimmin' women :)  Everyone's comments yesterday were great- I am so impressed with all that movin' & shakin' going on! 

Fridays are all about positive mental vibes, each of us inspiring ourselves and each other to hold strong through the weekend to our commitments.  Often, the huge chasm between doing the healthy lifestyle and bingeing has to do with a teeny tiny mental dialogue we have with ourselves.  The biggest one I used to fall victim to a lot was "Oh, well, who cares, this little thing isn't going to make a difference" and another one was "I worked so hard- I deserve this!"  BIG pitfalls!  I think that's why I love this article so much: 7 Mental Tricks That Shed Pounds.

I think to change our internal dialogue, we first need to reflect on all of our accomplishments and hard work, acknowledging our little successes, the decisions where we made the right choice, each bead of sweat that dripped from our bodies, every time we reached for the veggies and fruit, etc.  After you've got your good base foundation of feeling proud of yourself, then add to that all the things that you are grateful for, building your resolve tall and strong.  Then finally, after you're filled to the brim with good pride and gratitude, add a little roof to that tower, a roof of all of us 10 in 6 gals who are in your same position, who are trying our hardest, who are cheering for you and supporting you.  That's a pretty good looking building, eh?  :)  YOU are amazing and YOU deserve to feel confident, sexy, and proud NOW of all you've accomplished this week!  YOU are showing your excuses and old habits who's boss!  YOU are defining who you are and what you will become, not letting life just happen to you.  YOU rock, girls :) 

Here's the first side-challenge, should you choose to participate :)  This will run from today to next Friday morning.  Those who participate and email me their plan by next Friday morning will be entered into a drawing for a fun little prize that I'll give or mail to you. 

Date nights or Girls Nights Out don't have to be nights and they don't have to be centered around a 10lb italian pasta dinner with a dozen breadsticks- challenge the traditional notion of dates/GNO! Schedule a fun and active adventure instead! Plan and schedule a big active activity for you and a significant other or for you and a girlfriend to do some day within the remaining 5 weeks of this challenge. Pencil in the date, get confirmation from the other particpant, and then let me know via email what your plan is! Once I get them all, I'll make a post of them (censoring specifics so we're stalker-free). Come up with even better ideas than I have here :)  Is there an indoor rock wall gym near you that you and a friend could go to for a few hours of workout and laughter? Is there local gym that you and a friend could try out a "free-look" day pass at (pretend you're interested in joining) and take a spinning class, or take a dancing class, then relax in the pool, sauna, or hot tub afterwards? Is there a local dance studio that you and a friend could venture into for one lesson? Is there a yoga studio you've been wanting to check out that you and a friend could make a date to pop in for one session- maybe try Bikram if you've never tried it before? Is there a local ice skating rink or roller rink? Is there a state park that you and a friend could plan a hike through? Is there a local park district cross-country ski class that you could sign up for? Plan an afternoon or evening at a ski resort learning how to snowboard or ski with a friend (many places offer highly discounted evening passes from 5pm to 10pm). Try something new! The key here is to HAVE FUN and to be creative! And when we do it with a friend or spouse, we have even MORE FUN! Show your friend/spouse the new committment you've made to live life with spontenaity and fun, to be active, to make workouts an adventure! "When a friend is waiting for you, you're less likely to back out!"