I read the 8 Pillars of Motivation this weekend. I read it for personal growth in my business, but it was very eye-opening for me since my business IS health and fitness. I've been struggling with the fact that I can't sell our products if I'm not representative of them. How do you explain to people that, yes, they do work, you've watched 1,000's of people lose weight on them, and yes, you do take them, but you just can't stay away from that pizza and buttery popcorn.

For some reason that book was a huge eye opener for me. I spent the entire weekend doing some quiet introspection. I'm not so much an emotional eater as a food addict. I can still be full from the last meal, but if my husband says, "I'm going to subway, do you want anything?" I just can't say no to the Spicy Italian sub that I looooove. I decided that, no matter what, I need to tie my financial success to my personal weight loss (indeed, there's really no other way) and that's a hard thing to do.

I wrote out a list of 50 reasons I need to follow our system, stay committed and lose my weight at last. If you think 50 reasons is easy, try it. The first 10 are easy. The next 25 are a struggle, and the last 15 are downright painful. It's HARD to think of 50 reasons, but I knew I couldn't leave myself any wiggle room.

When I woke up Monday morning, it was like a switch had been flipped. I was finally ready. I weighed (yikes), took my measurements, updated fitness pal, began a brand new official challenge through my company with the goal to lose 30 lbs in the next 90 days--and a mini-goal to lose 10 lbs by June 8th, our next company training. I made a plan of action. How much I'd exercise, what times of the day, and set up an accountability partner to walk with me (via phone since she lives on the other side of the country). I make a resolution to get to bed at a decent hour, not to drink through the week, and to say no to the yummy goodness that makes me feel so good when I'm eating it, but so bad when I look in the mirror.

That was Monday. Today is Thursday. Normally I lose any resolve to eat responsibly by mid-afternoon, but I'm proud to say I've not only kept my goals, I've exceeded them. I've done my morning hike, even when, on morning 2 I had to make an emergency visit to the vet and missed my morning hike w/ my accountability partner. I had a free hour between 2-3pm that day, and even in the scorching heat of mid-afternoon, I went on my hike. I've even went on a brisk night walk just before bed every night, although it wasn't part of my original goal. I haven't weighed yet, but it's only been 4 days and I can 'feel' the difference in my body.

The biggest thing which made the difference from the 8 Pillars of Motivation is where he explains you don't have to have motivation. If you're using the excuse that you're just not motivated (as I was) you're just looking for ways to fail. All you need is the desire and a course of action you're willing to follow, even when it sucks; the motivation will come later.

I feel great mentally. Physically, I feel awful, lol. My 40-something body is screaming at me for the demands I've placed on it. It took me 2 ibuprofen just to get out of bed this morning, but you know what they say--no pain, no gain!

I highly recommend this book. It's only $4.99 on Kindle, and worth ten-times that amount!!

A Course in Weight Loss - Marianne Williamson

This book did wonders for me and really helped my heal my dysfunctional relationship with food. It is an interesting approach because it tackles the idea that our unhealthy relationship with food stems from a "spiritual" hunger. By connecting with ourselves and our higher power, we no longer need food to fill that void.