Inspiration from afar

I know that the final season of LOST premiers tonight but I've never been a big fan of the show.  So instead I am indulging in the one program that I abolutely feel like I have to watch in real time, the Biggest Loser.  I love Bob and Jillian.  They inspire me on so many different levels.  Bob is actually going to be in Richmond on Monday the 8th, which coincides with our first day of training in the BAL program.  I'd give my right arm to be able to go to his seminar.  Perhaps not literally, but it would be awesome to see him speak.  I think maybe I'll add attending one of his and one of Jillian's seminars to my rewards. 

We have to have rewards for successes in life.  Without rewards we are less likely to push as hard as we possibly can to achieve our goals.  As part of this I want to set definitive rewards for myself.  That doesn't mean I have to spend a fortune on myself.  Although if I win the lottery, I'm going to have the whitest teeth and most beautiful skin and fanciest clothes in Richmond.  What it means is that I will reward myself by trying or doing something that I haven't been able to do because of my weight.  April, one of the ladies on my team, mentioned something at the group interview I'd forgotten about that has become a reward of sorts.  Going to an amusement park and being able to ride a rollercoaster again and not being afraid that I won't fit in the seat.  That would be a reward. 

There are so many more along those lines.  Going to the movies with my friends and being able to actually relax and sink into the huge theater stadium seating, instead of feeling like I have to squish myself in an awkward position so I'm not laying my weight on them, literally.  That's a reward.  Putting on the size smaller jeans that I bought over a year ago.  That would be a reward.  Actually being able to run part of the half-marathon in Virginia Beach in September.  That's a reward.

So I guess the point of this is that we all have to have inspiration of some sort.  We can be inspired by people like Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels.  We can be inspired by our families, our friends, our heros, or we can inspire ourselves.  It may be even more important to continually inspire yourself.  At the end of the day you can only look in the mirror and be proud of what you have accomplished and look forward to accomplishing more the next day.  I look forward to motivating and pushing myself beyond my wildest expectations, and I know that my team members and my trainer will push me as well. 

*Side note...if she'll let me, I do eventually want to do a little profile shout-out type thing to my trainer Andi as I get to know her better...though I can say that I can't wait to learn all I possibly can from her about her expertise in kettlebells, Muy Thai and Jiu-jitsu.*

If these contestants on the Biggest Loser can do this, then so can I.  I am just as strong as they are, and just as motivated...perhaps more so in some ways.  I know this is it for me, and I want it to be it for the rest of my team as well.  While Saturday is intimidating, just stepping on a scale is horrifying in a sense, I look forward to it as being the very last time in my life that I will ever have to feel the terror of being weighed.  For after Saturday, I want to look forward to the scale, knowing it will be lower and more satisfying each time I weigh myself until I get to my goal.

Here's to pushing ourselves!

"Pushing outside of your comfort zone....this is what is going to get you to your goal." ~Bob Harper