Forget Weight Watchers...

I have my own points system! The number one thing on my list is to get in the best shape of my life. This is going to be a challenge because right now I am probably in the worst shape of my life. But it is critical that I mark this off my list because other items like feeling confident at a water park, going skinny dipping, and attempting surfing would be much more enjoyable if I feel confident in my body.

Like most girls in America I have been on multiple diets since high school. When I got to be a junior in high school, I was probably in the best shape of my life. I played soccer and I was a cheerleader. On the cheerleading team I was too weak to be a base, too short to be a spotter, so I had to be a flyer. This put tremendous pressure on me to watch my weight. I didn't want to be too heavy to lift. I probably went to extremes at time to keep my weight at it's lowest and stay in my teeny tiny uniform, but I felt great. When I went to college I wasn't going to practice everyday and I was eating take out and the bad food in the dining hall and sorority house so I gained weight. Since then I have been taking off and putting back on the same weight for the last 10 years.

The time I was in the second best shape of my life I had a personal trainer. My friend and I shared a trainer. We went through multiple trainers before we found a good fit. And talk about motivation, this was our trainer:



That's right. That is Graham from Deanna's season of the Bachelorette. He was our trainer during the summer of 2005. Not only was he so hot, but he did everything he could to try to get us to meet our goals while being so nice and funny it actually made me look forward to working out. (BTW I was shocked to see him on the Bachelorette! He had left NC to move to NY for modeling and acting. We were so sad to see him go, and I haven't had a trainer since then.)

Anyway, all that working out in 2005 made 2006 a great year. I was back down to a 6 and feeling good. Then I got in a relationship. All we did was eat out and my workout routine fell by the wayside. I tried Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem for brief periods to try to take off the weight, but I think different things work for different people and since I know what works for me, I have come up with my own points system to keep me on track.

For every day I work out I get a point. And anytime I successfully resist temptation with food (i.e. turn down a piece of birthday cake or order the grilled chicken when I really really want a cheeseburger) I get a point. Each time I eat something bad, I am going to subtract a point. At the end of the month I am going to give myself a dollar for each point I have and put those in a piggy bank. Once I get down to the size I want to be, I am going to use that money to go on a shopping spree for a new wardrobe!

But since this is also about the shape I am in, I am going to shoot for running a 5K again. I am going to try to do the same one as last year (Jingle Bell Run). But this year I plan to run the entire time with no walking breaks. Also if I am in the best shape of my life, I should shoot for coming in under 30 minutes. Back in high school we had to run a mile almost everyday at soccer practice and for Varsity we had to come in under 10 minutes. So if I am in the best shape of my life I should be able to do 3 miles in less than 30 minutes. But one thing at a time. I would be happy just to run the entire thing!

I know this is going to be a long journey, but hopefully by next summer I will be wearing a bikini with pride and running like it is nothing!