Motivation

Since my birthday at the beginning of April, I've been trying much more diligently to work on eating better, working out, and finally losing the baby weight. Motivation is a funny thing, though. I'm motivated to lose 30 pounds in the long term. Yet, I have a hard time always remembering how that long-term goal applies to the doughnuts that someone brought into work that morning, or ordering pizza for dinner on a Friday night. It's just one meal, right? That turns into a Coke, or another missed workout ....

So I've been trying to come up with ways to trick myself into short-term motivation. One of those required Keith's help. I asked him to come up with surprise treats for me with every 5 pounds I lose. I didn't want it to be anything that would break the bank, but something that I wouldn't normally do for myself.

A few weeks ago, I passed the first 5-lb mark and Keith fanned out slips of paper in front of my face.

"Pick one," he said gleefully. "But only one!" For some reason, I think he enjoys keeping these secret from me.

I chose a slip that said I could buy a new album.

I was excited, but undecided. What album should I get? I don't buy new music very often, so it was a big decision. When I was running over the weekend, I thought about how I wanted the album to give me more motivation to keep it up. So I wanted something upbeat and high energy that would make me want to work out. I couldn't decide what, though.

Then, a few days ago, for some reason Keith brought up the movie Idlewild that we had DVR'd recently. It starred Big Boi and Andre 3000 from Outkast, and the music was an interesting, catchy blend of rap and hip hop with Prohibition-era songs, which is the time period where the movie takes place. I enjoyed the movie and loved the music, so it was perfect!

I triumphantly announced my decision, and Keith ran into the living room, to download the MP3s from LaLa. Since then, we both have been enjoying the album (which has 26 songs for only $10! A steal!). I can't wait to put some songs from it on my iPod for my run this weekend.

I'm also closing in on another reward. I'm still not perfect, but having these mysteries out there to tantalize me along the way does seem to help. I wonder what the next one will be ....