The Holidays--The True Test of Commitment

With Thanksgiving behind us, we are now officially into the holiday season. Tis the season of justifying excessively bad eating habits and easily rationalizing every missed workout (It's okay--it's the holidays. I'll start eating better and working out again come January.) Did you know that people gain an average of 7 pounds during the holidays? Did you also know that this weight gain is often not as temporary as we would like to believe, but may lead to long-term weight gain, far beyond what we bargained for with those justifications that sounded oh-so-valid to our ears? Take it from me, as one who for the last five years or more has exceeded that 7-pound average weight gain, that IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!! What kind of memories are you building for yourself with all these rationalizations? For me it has been mostly memories of feeling really lousy and hating myself when it's all over because of all the weight I have packed on. That is not what I want my holidays to be about. So this year I am doing things differently. I started a holiday fitness challenge with a small group of Facebook friends. Each person in the group has been asked to set their own, personal fitness/health goals, to check in on the FB group page every day, and to commit to seeing this challenge through until the end of the holiday season. We officially started yesterday, and I am very excited. My goals are to workout 6 days a week every week, and on January 2, 2012, to be able to say "I weigh 10 pounds less now than I did at my pre-Thanksgiving weigh-in." I have recently started the Beachbody RevAbs program, and it is kicking my booty! Seriously! It's tough, but I love it because I know I am going to see results as I stick with it and work for it every day. I am drinking my Shakeology every day, using my doTerra essential oils, and doing all of the things that have helped to bring me success in the past (e.g. EFT, scripture study, etc.). And now I have this challenge group to keep me even more motivated. How can I expect to motivate them to stay committed to reaching their goals if I am not committed to reaching my own goals? I had a really strong November (I'll post results for the month in a few days) and I know December is going to be even better. And you know what that means? It means I am going to feel great this holiday season, I am going to have more energy, and I am going to be happier and more able to enjoy the true spirit of the season! Those are the kind of memories that I want to make!