Weird motivation from the stinky kid

Everybody has their motivation to get to their fitness goal(s) and I'm no different; it just took me awhile to find what made me tick. There are lots of common tools to get a person motivated...some of which I've covered in other entries. But for the sake of being thorough, I will review:

Motivation #1 - How you want to look. We all have that ideal shape which includes but is not limited, to a flat, toned tummy, toned arms, a high, tight butt and legs for days. Don't forget about perma-glow sunkissed skin and perfect, beach wave hair. Everyone wants to look lean and toned naked, just not in yoga pants. And every woman, whether she's a bikini wearer or not, wants to at least have the option to wear one!

Why this motivation doesn't work for me: It may work for some, and that's ok. I also still work towards the goal of a flat, toned tummy, etc. Actually, that's long term. Short term, I just want to get to a point that I don't have to adjust my pants to accomodate my tummy when I sit down. The difference is, I can't compare myself to others. (If my fiance is reading this right now, he's probably saying, "THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TELLING YOU!") Look at the girl in the picture. She's probably at least 5'10". I'm 5'6". Her torso is super long, mine is average.... the differences go on forever and thus, I will never look like her. My own sister, has a very different body time than me. She's thin all over naturally and has had two young children. I'd be lying if I said it didn't frustrate me to have her swimming in my exact same gene pool, but she's a different person. I deal and readjust my motivation.

Motivation #2 - The goal clothes. When I graduated from college, I had this pair of jeans that were a Basically, I was supermodel status. I still have them in my closet and now, I can't even get them up over my thighs, but dammit, I will fit into those suckers again one day.
little long in the leg so I had to wear heels with them. My thighs looked small and my butt looked phenomenal.

Why it doesn't work for me: I justify my size too much. "It's ok that I don't fit into something from when I was 22...my body has changed." "I look just as great in this <insert item of clothing here.>" Having goal pants/swimsuit/dress, etc. is great! It just doesn't work for me.

Motivation #3 - An important event. I am getting married in 51 days. This is the event that I should look stunning for in my life. I also have a high school reunion coming up... we all know the deep-seeded need to impress that comes with that. Others are working on post-baby body, getting ready for a marathon or prepping for a vacation.

Why it doesn't work for me: Those ARE factors for me, but on the treadmill, at an incline of 7 on full sprint... I need an extra push.

Yesterday was cardio day, and like I said in yesterday's post-- I needed extra motivation to do a full hour of sweating. Again, I rocked out in my car on the way to the gym to get pumped up. I found a parking spot easily (unlike the day before) and took my positive attitude straight into the locker room to change. I even remembered my pants today. It was shaping up to be a good day, folks.

My treadmill was even available! My warm-up for every workout is as follows:
On the treadmill, run for 4 minutes at a brisk pace at incline 3.
Sprint for 30 seconds.
Run 3 minutes at a brisk pace at incline 5.
Sprint for 30.
Run 3 minutes at brisk pace at incline 7.
Sprint for 30.
Cool-down for 2 minutes.

As in many gyms, there are TVs on the wall in front of the cardio machines. I usually just watch what's on. Sometimes it's something stupid, but sometimes magic happens. I found my gem of motivation.

The Food Network.

Yeah, I said it. The Food Network motivates me while doing cardio. Specifically, I watched Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. If you've never watched it, the basic premise is that the host travels around the country to various diners, drive-ins and dives (duh) to sample delicious local fare. He learns how certain dishes are made, prepares them and then eats them.

I believe I just found my dream job.

I also believe I found a heart attack waiting to happen. Watching him eat fried, greasy, cooked-in-butter deliciousness from all over our Great Nation, I wondered about his health. I hear the host from Man vs. Food is actually a vegan off the show and works out like crazy. This is probably a good thing because otherwise he'd biff it by the time he turns 50, elbow deep in the world's biggest calzone or something. I wonder if Guy Fieri, the host of D, D and D is the same way.
Oddly, all this fantasizing about food made me want to work harder. I mean, everybody has to eat. I want to be able to indulge from time to time and after all, I am a midwesterner. I'm a proud Iowan and the Great Iowa State Fair is just around the corner. Never heard about it? It's fantastic and I suggest you educate yourself on it's greatness....and fried food.

At the end of my cardio day, I was a disgusting mess. I even stunk (stank? not sure about the appropriate verbiage to describe this) and you KNOW it's bad if you are disgusted by yourself. I stepped off the elipitcal (the final leg of my cardio day routine) feeling like I had a successful, productive workout.

I'm never going to be a vegetarian and I love me some fried carbs. But it's all about moderation folks, and I need to earn that delicious corn dog.