Not long ago I saw that there was a 10 lb challenge for the month of January. I decided that I could use a little extra motivation and so I signed up for it. My therapist and I had been talking about internal vs external motivation. External motivation is what people tell you. "A large waist can cause diabetes." "Weighing 125 for your height is the most ideal." "yoyo dieting is very unhealthy" Internal motivation is based off of what you feel, or experience. "when I eat green smoothies I am more energetic." "Running on the treadmill increases my mood" "When I drink enough water I am not as achy." Notice the difference in the two. Internal motivation is freeing while external is like a weight of guilt and shame. The things you "should" fix or do. External is good, but internal is even better.
I have been focusing on my internal motivation. The reasons I want to do things, how they make me feel. It really makes a huge difference to do things because of me...not what other people, even experts say.
I found some new water bottles that are really working well for me. I got them at costco...3 24 oz bottles for $18, now I see (looking at amazon) it was a fantastic deal! I won't let the kids drink out of them and they sit there as three trophies showing at the end of the day that I drank my water.
I am also eating more fruits and veggies as well as consistently exercising. I set up a new goal plan and weekly benchmarks to help me see progress. I have completed all 17 days so far of the 10 lb challenge and am down 3 lbs. :)
I realized that I can create the experience I want. I can create my life, I can create my success. I just need to create it. So now that is what I am doing.
All the best!
