2009 Winners
Individual Winner# 1
Victoria Grice, Staff Assistant
Week 7-8 Update
March 10, 2009
Okay, I'm going to come clean... week seven of the program was kind of a bust. I didn't blog because I didn't think there was much to say. I didn't journal and I didn't exercise... it was not a great success. When I met with Kelly and confessed my slip up, she reminded me that "one week over my entire lifetime isn't such a big deal." Duh... that makes a lot of sense. I spent all kinds of time worrying about how I had "wasted" a whole week of the Eat Wise and Exercise (EWE) program — one tenth of the total time! Putting it into true perspective really helped me to feel better about it, and let me move on to thinking about my future. This was a huge change for me because in the past, I have tended to approach things as all or nothing: either I'm doing everything right, or I'm doing it all wrong. Well, there is really no right or wrong in this program. It's all a learning experience and I'm gathering helpful information about my strengths, my likes and dislikes, my areas of improvement, and other interesting aspects of myself. I'm really glad I didn't give up on the whole EWE program or my future health over one seven day period!
Week eight was my week to slowly get back on track. I hadn't been to the gym in about 10 days by the time I got there this week, so I had some really tough moments. I felt really great after I had finished. The next morning I felt like I had been put through the ringer — limp and weak! But within a couple of days, I was back on track and feeling better about the whole process. In fact, at this point, I'm starting to look ahead to the end of this 10 week program and need to make some decisions. Do I want to continue with a personal trainer? Or would I rather work on my own now? Should I join a weight loss program to continue the accountability? Or am I ready to go it alone? While I don't have to decide anything right away, I do need to begin thinking about my future plans. One thing I have learned is that I enjoy a challenge and will rise to the occasion. I also like having the weekly check-ins with Kelly to discuss my eating habits and changes I can make to improve my overall health.
I can see now that my health really is important enough to invest in financially, if that's what it takes to keep me on track and push me to new levels of fitness.
Cutting back on eating lunches out and avoiding expensive pre-made meals at the grocery store can save me enough money to pay for personal training and even have
enough left over to buy some new clothes now and then! By looking at it that way, I can see that my improved health is affordable, even on my careful budget. Plus,
now that I've worked with a personal trainer/fitness coach for several weeks, I know that the experience is well worth the money. I probably would not stick with
an exercise plan for very long if I got bored with it, and having someone there to add new moves and share creative ideas helps me to stay interested and keeps
me going back for more.