2000 Points!

For those of you newer to the blog, you may not know that at the beginning of the year I created a point system for myself to help keep me accountable with my health. You can read the whole post here.

The gist is that I would reward myself points for making healthy choices (exercise, drinking water, taking vitamins, flossing, etc.) and I would lose points for making unhealthy choices (drinking booze, eating sweets, etc.). In the past I have done point systems and they have helped keep me accountable, so I figured I would try it again.

There have been some tweaks here and there, but I finally arrived on 2500 as the final number of points I needed to earn my reward: new clothes for our cruise in June! I'm excited to say that as of today, I have surpassed the 2000 point mark and am less than 500 points away from a shopping spree!!!

Honestly, I wouldn't be where I am today without my trainer. As helpful as the point system can be, I was getting pretty lazy in the weeks leading up to taking the plunge and signing up for personal training. Not only that, but even if I had somehow motivated myself to exercise for points, there is no way I would be as strong as I am now... or have some of the muscle tone that is developing (and making me do double-takes in the mirror). She is amazing - and training is one of the best investments I have ever made in my life.

The hardest part about having a trainer is that I had to promise her I would only weigh myself monthly. For someone as obsessed with the scale as me, that was rough. And it also means that I have no clue what I weigh right now. At last check, I was down 12 pounds since January 1, but that was 3 weeks ago. I'll have a better idea on Monday when I get to weigh myself again :)

But even if I can't weigh myself, I see a difference in pictures:

These aren't the best comparison shots, but I didn't have many pre-point pictures where my whole face was visible. I realize looking back that I cut off part of my face in almost every single picture I have of myself. I was too embarrassed by how puffy it was getting and thought I could disguise my weight gain. Sad.

Another difference I can see is with my strength. Every single time I train, I am able to do more and push harder than the previous session. One thing I am particularly proud of is that I'm almost ready to transition into "real" push-ups (as opposed to the push-ups where you are on your knees). I remember back to doing the 30 Day Shred and how I couldn't make it through 10 push-ups even on my knees. Now I can bust out 10 knee push-ups like nobody's business :)

I am so proud of myself, and I can't wait for my shopping spree! I have a feeling that, unlike typical shopping days, this one won't involve me crying in the fitting room... unless I happen to cry tears of joy ;)

Just 53 more days until we set sail! I can't wait to see how much more progress I can make.

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