Motivation

So our boot camp trainer, Katie, gave us a project - to make a poster using words and pictures of whatever motivates you to come to boot camp. To be honest, in the beginning, my main source of motivation was the fact that I had to be in a bathing suit in the middle of July around many people and I did NOT want to look like I just had a baby. I hated my belly, and my thighs, everything was a jiggly mess. There was no way I was getting in a bathing suit looking like this! It was purely vanity driven, to try and recapture as much of my pre-baby body as possible in 8 weeks (actually, it was more like my pre-DREW body). As I got closer to the start of boot camp, however, I started to really think about why I was doing this...

Was it just for that moment in time?

Those 5 days on a cruise ship for Karyn's wedding?

If so, then why bother? Bust my butt for 8 weeks just to let it all come back on later? No thank you. If I was going to do this work, it was going to be a complete lifestyle change.

Thus, when I sat down to complete my project (like a good little student), I thought about what was driving me - what was REALLY driving me. And I came up with this -

Sorry for the fairly craptastic picture of my poster, but you get the idea!

In the middle, you see my boys. They are my main driving force. I must model healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle if they are to become healthy, active adults. And so, I put the words "eat right" and "strong" above them, and "live healthy" below them. I couldn't find "role model" in either Fitness or Shape, so I wrote it in. Those directly correspond to my boys and myself; our relationship and what I hope to help them with as they grow.

Around those words and my boys are other things that motivate me - getting back to running, being slim and fit, and perhaps even being able to wear a bikini again some day ... if I can figure out how to lose the "gifts" my sons left on my body.. And, of course, a central theme with those pictures is the beach. Yes, I want to look good on the beach this summer. To feel like I look good. To feel confident and proud of my body. I have a looooong way to go to get back to where I was pre-Drew, but I know I will get there with this new mindset.

When I started boot camp, success was just getting out of bed at 4:30am. Now, success will be when I can run the hill at Lamphere without stopping at some point on the way up. I WILL do it before the end of the next session. I will. And my reward for my achievement? A healthy, fit body.