Willpower

While I don't really enjoy watching the Super Bowl (especially once all the food runs out...), I do admire the players. They've all got a ton of self control. To be able to exercise, go to practices, eat a specific diet and play in drastically varying temperatures has GOT to be difficult. Today was my 7th day of the Whittle My Middle (WMM) challenge and I think while it is certainly a great ab exercise, it is also a good exercise in willpower.

Whatever your goals are for your body-- whether it's to lose weight, or gain weight or just build up muscle in your arms-- you can't simply stick a post-it on your door reminding you of what you want and then expect that thing to happen. You've got to work at it.

The reason why I like the WMM challenge and other quick, but daily workouts so much is that you need to practice restraint in order to do them. You have to take the ten or so minutes out of your day in order to complete the set, and if you do, I promise that you will feel so accomplished. Now, you might think that anyone in the world could set aside 10 minutes for strength-building or some stretching but it's not so easy! You need to change your clothes into something move-able, tie up your hair if it's long and move around your desk chair or coffee table to make sure you've got room! That being said, I think that part of having willpower is being able to plan ahead. With exercise, you can set out your gym clothes and iPod the night before. Stick that post-it note on your door, too, but not without real intent behind it!

The same thing goes for food; if you know you've got a busy day ahead of you, throw some almonds in a bag and clean off your apple so that it will be ready for grabbing the next day. Planning ahead is the first step in helping you have some true self restraint and reaching your goals. I encourage you all to think about a goal you would like to accomplish this week and plan accordingly to make it happen. My goal for the week is to drink more water (which I honestly have not been doing enough of lately), so I am going to make sure to leave my water bottle out on the kitchen counter so that I can remember fill it up on my way out the door. It's a simple goal, but simple goals lead to greater accomplishments!

With health,

Melissa