January 26, 2009

Another ass-kicking from Jillian Michaels to get me back on the bandwagon

I got back from Europe last night, and it was all too soon that I was back to the old grind this morning. I’ve been working from home for a while, and while it sounds like a totally awesome deal, it actually kind of sucks – I sit home by myself all day, in bed, and no matter how much work I do, I feel completely unproductive and lonely. I’ve taken to turning on the television as background noise for company, and this morning when I turned on the Today show, their special guest was none other than Jillian Michaels! My favorite.

She had a lot of advice to give, and I was glad to hear it. After seven days of eating lard and not really working out, it’s time for me to get back on track. So for all of you who were working at the office at 10 AM and couldn’t watch for yourselves (i.e. pretty much everyone), I’ll provide a short summary, as well as my own thoughts.

Jillian said that only 1 in 7 women stick to their New Year’s resolutions – interesting. I’ve been doing pretty well on mine so far. I’ve spoken with my parents every day and have been planning lots more social outings for myself and my friends – I even joined a social book club and have been e-mailing back and forth with the women on a daily basis! On the exercise front, I’m not quite on track to hit 25 marathons this year, but a lot of that is due to the slow marathon season that is January, and my dwindling finances that I’m trying not to waste. I’m hoping to make up for that in coming months, especially March when it looks like there is the possibility of doing a 2-for-1 by doing the National Marathon in Washington DC on Saturday, March 21, and then driving 3 hours down to Virginia Beach to do the Yuengling Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon on Sunday, March 22. Anyone want to join me there?

Jillian also said, “if you feel like giving up, remember that everyone falls off the wagon at one point and other. Every mistake should be seen as an opportunity to learn.” This is SO true! As far as my resolution to work out six days a week goes, I’ve only screwed up once – last week, when I was in Europe. It was my own silly fault – I could have gotten some exercise in just fine, as I had brought plenty of exercise DVDs. However, it’s become a lesson to me – I was really mad at myself after I failed, and I don’t want to feel like that again. Total failure for me would be giving up entirely, and I’m not going to let that happen. So today, with renewed energy, I’m back to my daily some-form-of-exercise-I-don’t-care-how-short.

As for Jillian’s top five tips, I’m just going to post these verbatim:
1. Define or acknowledge your source of motivation. What is it that you’re working for? “I don’t love broccoli or the treadmill, but I like my skinny jeans a lot.”
2. Educate yourself. Many people think they’re incapable, but they’re actually just uninformed.
3. Enlist support. Going it alone is a recipe for failure. When you recruit people, you exponentially boost your rate of success.
4. Your environment is paramount to your success. Remove junk food from your cupboards. If you’re single, try to meet someone in a place where you know they’re interested in their health as well.
5. If you write your goals down, it becomes a concrete reality for you.

Her closing thoughts to sum it all up: To motivate yourself from the beginning, remember that it’s never too late to change. Figure out what you want, write it down, enlist support, set yourself up for support, and just don’t give up! Success begets success.

SHARE:

18 thoughts on “Another ass-kicking from Jillian Michaels to get me back on the bandwagon”

  1. That’s one of the biggest things I had to remember when I first started changing my lifestyle! Just because you mess up once or twice doesn’t define the rest of the journey. Every other time I ‘dieted’ as soon as I ate a cookie or didn’t work out for a day I’d think screw it and fall off the wagon for a week or two. Now I take it one day, one meal and one workout at a time!! I’ve just recently gotten into watching the Biggest Loser and I’m loving it!

  2. good luck on the national marathon! I’ll have to come out and cheer you on since that’s right in my turf!

    i considered the shamrock half – but then figured the shamrock 8k in dc the weekend before is good enough and doesn’t require the travel :/

    Good luck and if you’re going to be in town the night email me and maybe we can meet up for dinner or something! 🙂

  3. Ah Jillian. Always whips people into shape. I was also thinking about doing the Yuengling marathon. Combining running with beer! Sounds like just my style.

  4. Holy crap two marathons back-to-back are you nuts???!!! Wow…I am in awe!

    I love Jillian too. While I’m not one that is motivated by yellers I think she yells b/c she geniunely cares about the health of those she works with. I’m dying to try her shred DVD.

  5. Welcome home. And don’t worry – you’ll get out of bed sometime. I am going on week one of no junk food in my house rule. It’s been rough! haha

  6. I like her tips. Good job getting back on track.

    Suntrust is my neck of the woods as well. Don’t hesitate to ask if you need any info (although I’m older, so I probably can’t tell you cool places to hang out LOL)

  7. I probably won’t be running the DC-National marathon, but if you’re there I’ll come make a sign for ya!! and the VA (shamrock) race looks like a blast, you get to wear crazy green stuff 😉

  8. I saw Jillian on Rachel yesterday… and Bob was on the Today Show or that after the Today Show show… can’t remember which. But – I freaking love them… they are SO motivating and inspiring and all things good-for-you!

  9. Hey, looks like I won’t be making it down to the National Marathon this year (too much racing, not enough cash). But I’m still on for the Flying Pig in May.

Leave a Reply to Allie Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join the List

Subscribe for instant email notification of new posts.

Join the List

Subscribe for instant email notification of new posts.

© 2023 by 50by25. All rights reserved. Actions taken from the hyperlinks on this blog may yield commissions for 50by25. View my FTC disclaimer.

Scroll to Top