Category: A Journey to a Better Me

If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree that rewards can be very motivating! This is exactly why I created a reward system for myself while I’m on this awesome journey to becoming a better me. Meeting your goals can be very difficult. It takes a lot of determination, discipline, ambition, sweat, and even tears at times to successfully complete a goal. Unfortunately, it’s almost too easy to give up when things get hard and you feel like you can’t push any further. To avoid quitting and starting over each time I get frustrated I decided to motivate myself with mini rewards along the way, a bigger reward upon completion of my 35 by 35 challenge, and a cumulative reward that will continue to increase even after my 35 by 35 challenge is complete.

My mini rewards along the way will be for smaller milestones that I accomplish over time. Those milestones include, but aren’t limited to losing at least 10 lbs, completing my personal training sessions for the month, better organization, losing inches, etc. I recently accomplished two of my smaller milestones which were losing 10 lbs and completing a month worth of personal training sessions. I combined those two milestones and treated myself to a massage yesterday afternoon. That was the perfect treat for me and now I’m looking forward to reaching my next goal. Make sure that you pick rewards that you know will motivate you and are well within your budget. Here’s a few ideas just to get you started…

• Take a day off of work to relax
• A facial
• A new pair of shoes
• An outfit
• New perfume/cologne
• A spa pedicure and manicure
• A new hairstyle or haircut
• Concert tickets
• Girls/Guys night out

My bigger reward for the completion of my 35 by 35 challenge is still up in the air. I was thinking about a birthday party, a weekend trip, or a full day of pampering and shopping. I’m really not sure which one I want to go with just yet. Any of the three will definitely motivate me though so I’m still pushing towards my goal.

My cumulative reward system is my “A Better Me” jar shown below. I purchased this jar and the stickers for it from Michaels. I spent about $6 total and it took me about 5-10 minutes to get it just right. I came up with this system to reward myself for the individual tasks that I complete as well as weight loss. I add $1 to the jar for every workout, every mile that I complete, and for every pound that I lose. This is my way of patting myself on the back for a job well done. I plan to let the money in the jar accumulate over the next few months and at the end of the year I’ll use the money for some workout gear, my training sessions, running sneakers or anything that pertains to fitness. On January 1^st I’ll start fresh and let the money add up for another few months. The goal is to have enough money in the jar each quarter where I can treat myself to something that will help me along this journey to being fit and healthy.

 

Remember rewards can be motivating! Don’t forget to reward yourself!

Thank you so much for reading! If you have any ideas for mini rewards or if you have any suggestions for me regarding my bigger reward, please leave a comment below! Also, let me know if you plan to use a rewards system to keep yourself motivated. I would love to hear from you!

~Mrs. Accountabilitee

I had an Ice Cube “check yo self before you wreck yo self” moment today that I really need to share. I’ve been saying some things for the last day or two and I finally “heard” myself this afternoon. I knew what I had been saying, but what I was doing when I said it never really hit me. My words were literally going against everything that I’ve been trying to work on.

I was on the path to quitting before I even started!

Let me break it down for you…

Not too long ago I made a decision to go back to my trainer Jasmine. I had been away for far too long and I knew that I needed to get back in there. I reached out to her before I changed my mind and made an appointment for my first session which is tomorrow. I swear I’ve been counting down like it’s dooms day! I really wasn’t looking forward to the workout out of pure laziness. Over the past few days when people would ask what I was doing on Friday or over the weekend I would mention my training session. However, each time I talked about it I kept saying “I’m SUPPOSED to go to see my trainer, BUT…” or I would say “I have a session with my trainer, but that’s IF I GO.” The first two times people laughed it off, but the 3^rd time I said it I was actually listening to myself and realized that I was setting myself up for failure.  My good friend put me in check too! She said “Alright now Mrs. Accountabilitee! You better quit playing!” I can appreciate a friend checking me because I’m that friend that will check you when needed. I think the bigger picture for me though was that this blog has already begun to do one of the things that I intended for it to do without me even realizing it. I was being held accountable by one of my subscribers who also happens to be a good friend. When she used my name to check me a light went off in my head to remind me that people are watching and failure is NOT an option!

I’ll be at Monstermode Athletics tomorrow afternoon to start my training journey again. This time I am not giving up or allowing a crazy schedule to get in the way of what I need to do. Also, because I was giving up before I even got started I decided to add more to my day as a consequence. Negative talk will not be tolerated or there will be consequences! I have my alarm set for a little earlier than usual so that I can get a workout in before I go to work. Since I wanted to complain about one workout I’m going to reward myself with two! I decided on what I needed to do and now I’m committing to it so that I can succeed!

Accountabilitee starts with me! 😉

 

 

This rang true for me back in June. I had my husband take pictures at my sister’s bridal shower that I hosted at our home. After the bridal shower we sat down to look at the pictures and they literally told a story. I felt like anyone that would look at these pictures would definitely feel like they were there with us. The pictures captured all of the emotions that we experienced and all of the creativity that was put into the shower. As we scrolled through pictures smiling, laughing, and tearing up again I came across THE PICTURES. These pictures wiped the smile off of my face and sent me flying back down off of my natural high crashing right into reality. I look at myself in the mirror every single day, but for some reason what I saw in that picture isn’t what I thought I’ve been seeing in the mirror. Not to say that I didn’t think that I needed to get in shape because I really did, but I was still in shock. There is a beautiful picture of the bridal party in our yard and all I could focus on was my midsection. Then I started to beat myself up with questions like “Why did I pick that shirt?”, “Why didn’t I see this when I looked in the mirror?” “Why didn’t I suck my stomach in more?” “Why didn’t I stand at an angle?” “Why do I look so puffy?”. The truth of the matter is that picture revealed exactly who I am at this point in my life. I am overweight. I am unhappy with my appearance. I am not healthy or fit. My weight has gotten out of control and I need to do better. I KNOW better. However, knowing better and doing better are two totally different things! I saw the writing on the wall 2 years ago right after my wedding and I wasn’t consistent which has led to me being 40 pounds heavier today. I refuse to have a pity party about my situation because I did it to myself, but what I will do is have a celebration when I turn things around. The great thing about tomorrow is it’s a new day, a new beginning, and a chance for you to be better. Your do-over doesn’t have to be January 1^st, the 1^st of the month, or even a Monday. You can start whenever you’re ready. Right now I’m ready to attack this head on. My first goal is to take a picture that tells a different story than the one that I took at the bridal shower. I want my picture to show a confident woman that isn’t perfect, but is striving daily to be her very best. I want it to show a woman that wants to be healthy and fit for herself as well as her family.  If a picture is worth a thousand words I want all of my words to be positive.