I did order pizza again this month while I was in the midst of PMS and I thought I’d write a quick post about it as I was thinking about how I was feeling about the whole thing.

I’m always pretty deliberate when I do this and it definitely seems to follow a pattern. I figure if I let myself have this as a treat every 4-6 weeks or so (dare I say once a month) it’s not going to kill my progress. I mean, this is real life we’re leading, right? AND we’re bound to have craving, especially when we’re PMS-ing big time. lol 😉

I think there may be times when I can have the craving and NOT give in to it, and most often during the month, I do not crave this and I’m perfectly fine with my "normal" healthy meals. Also, I do hate to do this right before a weigh-in…especially if it is a monthly weigh-in, so I will definitely try to wait until after if these 2 events coincide at all.

Pizza and chicken wings…strange – I’ve always loved pizza, but never really went for the chicken wings before so I’m not sure what all that is about!

What are your craving? Feel free to share and also let us know how YOU deal with them.

This morning I rode my bike to a nearby Lake. This is a great Sunday ride for me because there is a road that on other days is quite busy where on Sundays it’s no problem, so I like to take advantage of the early quiet Sunday morning. Of course when I get there, it is a beautiful ride around the Lake which is roughly 4 miles. The whole ride is about 16 miles and on the way back there’s a bit of a hill to climb.

I find myself playing this little game as I go up the hill where I pick a spot just ahead (maybe a driveway, tree or mailbox) and make that my goal.  Typically when I ride I have a goal to go for distance or speed and today I was thinking that when I’m on an incline, the goal is not necessarily the distance or the speed, but rather just not getting off the bike to walk it up the hill. 😉

The mantra in my head at this time is "Don’t Quit" – round the peddles go – "Don’t Quit" – a little further up the hill – "Don’t Quit". AND of course in just a bit of time and with legs burning, I’ve made it to the top AND it feels so awesome!

After clearing the top today and then coasting for a bit I was thinking how making it up this hill is such a metaphor for the weight loss challenge and our quest to lose weight. Every month and week so far this year, I’ve had goals that I’ve been trying really hard to attain, but because this journey is NOT fast and NOT necessarily easy (who said that it would be, right?) sometimes the goal of the DAY is just NOT to quit! Do you know what I’m saying here?

I don’t ALWAYS feel like exercising when I get up in the morning and I sometimes do want that pizza or sweet, BUT I know that I will not quit at this, so any concession I make does not lead to throwing in the towel. Sometimes we DO exercise when we don’t "feel" like it and we DO use restraint when we want to make an unhealthy food choice because like riding your bike to the top of the hill, it is the little choices that we make along the way that will get us to the top – to our goals – to health and freedom!

I predict the view’s gonna be great! Are you with me?! 🙂

Don’t quit! Keep going!

The Biggest Loser Season 4 Premier aired last night.

I’ve been really excited for this show to start up again because it was such a big part of my own motivation to lose weight this year. I don’t know that it is completely realistic for the average person to lose as much weight as fast as they do on the show, but it is encouraging to watch. Of course they are going to lose much faster and bigger as they have really intense workouts and this is basically what they are doing for weeks on end. Meaning that they don’t have the distractions of "regular" life and can 100% focus on their weight loss, exercise and dieting.

For me, it has shown the value of focus and back in Dec. I had decided that weight loss/health goals would HAVE to be my #1 focus/goal for 2007…and so far it really has. I think sometimes you really do need this intense amount of focus on ONE big goal to get the momentum going.

I thought the show was great and I really look forward to this season. I love it that Alison Sweeney is the new host and I think she will be great! The show started with all of the contestants being dropped off in the middle of a desert. Yikes – what must they be thinking?!

Trainers, Bob Harper (Blue Team) and Kim Lyons (Red Team) then skydive to the ground to greet them. Pretty cool! The big twist this season is the make-up of a surprise Black Team – they were the ones not chosen by the original Blue and Red Team captains – who will be led by Jillian Michaels. They will secretly be training in the desert and meet up with the other teams a bit later in the show.

The season is off to a great start and I’m hoping that it will help with my own motivation as well as provide a source of good diet and exercise tips that I can follow from home as I continue with my own weight loss challenge.