Get Fit, Stark! Week 4- The Birthday

Last week, I talked about will power. This week I think I might have to reiterate my point. What I’ve found out over the past month is that will power is probably the single most important key to weight loss. And will power is a funny thing because once you start exerting it, you feel better about yourself and are more confident in what you can accomplish. Look at it this way: when you don’t eat the cookie that is sitting in front of you, you feel better about yourself because you stuck to your diet. If you would have eaten the cookie, you would have enjoyed it while it lasted, but felt bad about doing so afterwards. The next time you have temptation staring you in the face, you will remember how not eating it made you feel better for longer than eating it would have and you’ll repeat the behavior. All the while slowly building your will power until it is second nature to make healthier choices. And that’s the bottom line of a diet.

Talk about a test of will power – this week is my birthday week, so temptation is flying at me left and right. My brother sent me a cookie bouquet of Dallas Cowboy Football Cookies and I couldn’t eat them! I gave them to all of my staff at our staff meeting and then had to stare at them through the whole thing. They smelled delicious and made it difficult to concentrate, but I survived. I did give in and have a very small piece of ice cream cake since it was my birthday. It was excellent…until it just sat like a lump in my stomach for the rest of the night. And I didn’t even eat my normal size piece! It’s amazing how quickly your body adapts to a healthier lifestyle.

I was finally allowed to start exercising this week. We had one group exercise with Get Fit Stark! and I was amazed to find out how many people had never worked out in a gym before. It really got me thinking about why that might be and how to help people overcome their apprehension. Since this is our line of work, my staff and I started brainstorming ways to solve this problem. We have some big things coming at the Massillon Recreation Center – like hours just for those who have never exercised before, opening a circuit-style workout and a fitness challenge members that goes along with what I am doing with the Get Fit, Stark! Program.

I came in a little under my usual weekly weight loss this week, only losing 4.2 pounds, but I know that is still an accomplishment. Hopefully all of this birthday food goes away so I can keep on losing!