The big REVEAL!

I keep talking about this huge goal I have for 2012.. one that requires a lot of running.... drum roll....  

Rev3 is RUNNING across AMERICA!!!! 

And I'm joining them!

10 people (plus some) x 15 miles a day x 21 days = 3,150 miles!!!

You read that right. We'll have some RVs, Some vans, a core group of 10 runners and other Team Rev3 athletes, friends and family meeting us along the way!

Why in the WORLD would we do this?

Raise Money for the Ulman Cancer Fund! 

 I told you I wanted to be more involved in fund raising for this organization!!! And we aren't just raising SOME money... we are aiming to raise $100,000 as a team! Yes, $100,000 in just about three months. Our fundraising site will go live on January 2nd. You WILL get a link.

 So let's see ... 21 days x 15 miles = 315 miles. I will be running 315 miles. So don't you think you could donate just $1/mile? Okay make it $.50.... $.25? In all seriousness every dollar/quarter/nickle/penny helps! 

The number of people I have personally known just in the last year that have been diagnosed with one form of cancer or another is just FLAT OUT unacceptable. We need to make strides to not only fight and stop this disease, but to support people in fighting when they do get the BIG C diagnosis. 

Stay tuned for more information as time goes on... like on January 2nd when the fundraising link goes live! :) I'll post about my training, our planning and when we are out on the road there will be a veritable BLITZKRIEG of information for ALL of you to follow.

So ... now's your chance.

Fire away with the questions. What types of info do you want me (us) to share as we are going through the journey of preparing, fundraising and completing this event!? Any fundraising ideas... fire away! :)

I'm beyond excited to be involved with both Rev3, the Ulman Cancer Fund AND this Run Across America!  

Organizational changes

Just a quick FYI...

making some format changes.

I changed up my 'clouds'









<==============================

Instead of ONE cloud listing EVERY tag in here (I'll be downsizing the number of Tags don't fret) I broke them into three categories (for now)... ATHLETE - go here for all things well athletic. FAMILY - all things related to my family and running a household. FOOD - well, all things food/nutrtion.

This is my first stab at categorizing, but I'm still working through it. Trying to make it easier for people to get around here. If you are here because you are a mom (maybe a twin mom or an expectant twin mom) you can go right to topics like "belly pics" or "potty training twins" if you are, um, less than interested in potty training, but want to read about training for a triathlon you can get there w/o trudging through my potty training posts. You get the idea.

2012 Getting Organized

Again.

It's no secret that I TRY real hard to be organized.

My BIGGEST NUMERO UNO get organized tip.... are you ready? Wait for it..... I've been working on this one ALL year in 2011...and will continue to work on it this year.

Instead of buying cool storage containers for your crap....

it's revolutionary. Are you sure you can handle it?

GET RID OF YOUR CRAP!

BE RUTHLESS! Do it in stages. Start with one REALLY ANNOYINGLY cluttered part of your house. Start small. Clean out that junk drawer in the kitchen. Dump the WHOLE thing out. Get a drawer organizer.... put it in your drawer. Choose a spot for each thing you NEED in this drawer. While you are at it pull the garbage can over or a box for donations. Shoot go crazy, grab both.

Now remember RUTHLESS. How many pens do you really need at your finger tips? Perhaps there are other locations in your house that can use a pen. Do they even work? Check. Get a scrap paper and try to write with EVER pen in there. Or choose three pens you like and throw the rest out. DO NOT go out and buy another bulk pack of pens. DON'T do it! Now put ONE roll of tape in there, your book of stamps, one ruler, a nail file, a pair of scissors... ONE to THREE of each little thing you NEED in your junk drawer. If there are other things you want to keep, but they don't belong in your drawer then find an appropriate home for them.

Now STOP throwing everything on your counter in your junk drawer!! PUT IT AWAY in the RIGHT place instead. (now go through other areas of your house and REPEAT. Always bringing the donation box and garbage box with you.)

And NUMERO DOS... a plan. AT this moment we will talk about a meal plan. I've tried numerous approaches to this. Most recently I tried Simple Mom's Google Calendar idea, but as simple as it is it's too complicated for me. It might work for you though so check it out. I do like a lot of (most of) her stuff.

I like paper and pencil.

I'm simple. My most successful approach has been to just write the plan in my calendar with a pencil. Old school style. I have been pinning many recipes in Pinterest and generally have been using that to catalog my recipes. (Though I - admittedly - need to organize them a bit better). I write a little note in my calendar as to where the recipe can be found. Pinterest, a different site, a book, magazine etc.

I hate to clean. Numero Tres, but I have kids!!!! Why did this take me so long? My kids are getting to the age where they can actually help. And ONE of them is more than willing. The other is excited.... for now, but I suspect the novelty will wear off.

those that guessed chore chart were right.

Now I don't have to do it all. They can (and should) help and we do it together .... mostly because they aren't quite old enough to do all of this on their own... and it's actually kind of fun. BONUS: It helps them with their reading. Full disclosure... this was not my idea!

INSERT PHOTO OF CHORE BOARDS!

Side note... if you want them to do something MAKE SURE it's on the CARD because I'm now breeding little Union leaders! "BUT MOM it's not on my chore card!" Or "Mom, it says get dressed FIRST THEN brush teeth!!"

Boring Mom stuff is sometimes helpful. Enter NUMERO QUATRO 'the binder'... I'm typically very resistant to this domestic kind of BS, but I am in desperate need of organization and things made easy because I'm going to be enlisting some serious help this year... and anything I can offer to make things a little easier on those (aka MOM) coming into my home in my absence than I am all over it.

Artwork by Lily. I think that's me.

Still working on which Tabs work for me.

Again How She Does gives me the HOOK UP on the How To for the FAMILY BINDER. Now my tabs are a bit different than hers... Note MY first tab. (Okay maybe this won't make it easier for my mom to run my house, but it's a big thing in my life and deserves tab numero uno in my mind.) My first tab is TRAINING and contains my training schedule and any other training related info I find that I want to remember/keep tabs on.

If you have kids you NEED this. NUMERO CINCO: the 'tickler file'. I noticed the other day that my dad has one. He's like 65.. he's been organized (in a simple way) his whole life. Well, let's be real, my MOM keeps their house organized and always has, but my dad organizes all things house/financials. Anyway I notice the other day that dad has this cool folder thing that has one in the front that says TO DO! Hmm... then I saw THIS (again from Simple Mom... told you she had good stuff). I recently had the papers for renewing out car tabs rolling around in this basket / inbox thingy ... my last attempt at organizing my paper crap... and while it did get done... mostly on time.. I kept touching it and moving it while waiting for it's due date to get a bit closer. This only increases the chances that I am going to LOSE it until WELL PAST it's due date.

If you've got kids... they bring all kinds of stuff home from school. Then there are all the other obligations in your life that still require pieces of paper. I created a tickler file that has a section to hold my individual notebooks for various commitments I have (Rev3 has one, ECH has one, this blog has one, and I have one more for a goal I have for this year) and I have a slot for each month. Something is due in February I put it in my calendar with a note that it is in the Tickler file then I file it. MAGICALLY it is no longer rolling around in my kitchen getting ruined and potentially lost and forgotten! This is AWESOME! I've got high hopes for this one!

Talk to me about what you do to manage it all. How do you keep yourself organized!? So far this is working great for me. If you try any of it let me know how it works for you.

WANT TO BE MORE!

I want to be better. I want to provide more to you, my readers, to my family and to my friends. I want to go beyond the drivel I put up here in blogger land... and upon reading some old posts ... the belly aching. OH MY GOD!!! I tell my kids not to whine. I think they learned it from me... Holy HELL batman. Strike me dead with lightning I am the CAUSE of the problem. Crap, I digress.... (and start w/ my blathering and whining again.)

I feel like time has gone by and while I'm sure things have changed... they are much the same.

I want to write epic shit, I want to do epic shit, I want to be 100% satisfied with where I am and who I am, but frankly I'm scared. How can I be scared of being the best I can be? Of putting myself out there. Of providing value!?

How? I'll tell you how. I worry that I CAN'T do it. That I can't write epic shit or even do epic shit. That I can't provide value. That I can't break out of the mundane that has become my existence. While I realize the ridiculousness of these statements... surely I provide value... to someone.

What if I put it out there that I want to do these things... I get through a few epic things/thoughts/ideas that I'm actually able to successfully share. That actually motivate and inspire people... and then .....

Crickets!

What if after that the well runs dry..... the blog dies? I die? 

Surely not.

My heart will still beat...

Your heart will still beat...

And I guess I could just go back to writing like I do now.... 

Right? 

So I said it. I put it out there. Next year I hope to BE more... to PROVIDE more...

It's almost 2012 people. ALMOST!

I'm Not Sitting Down Till it's Over!

so you may or may not know, but me and Jesus share a birthday. I'm cresting the hill and riding the slope down starting on December 25th.

I turned 35 last year and it was the first birthday to give me pause. Every other year I truly felt AT LEAST 10 years younger... well in the last 5 years I guess. Last year was different. I was facing 40 as my next milestone. How in the HELL did that happen? Well, I'm mostly over it. Though I'm quite aware that it is a slippery slope. Why do I care about being 40? Who the hell knows. I don't give it a lot of thought really, but I'm really not to excited about it truth be told.

I can really identify with this song lately. It's in more than one of my spin play lists and it always gets me fired up during class!!



"I'm not sittin' down till I'm older and I'm not shuttin' up till it's over!"

What's my point? God, I'm sure there is one!!! I've got things rolling around in my mind (when don't I).... no, not just the normal mundane BS that is usually rolling around in there, but stuff that is SO MUCH cooler.

In the last couple of years I've not been 100% satisfied with how the year closed. (even though I've had perfectly fine years.) Well, who do you think is to blame for that feeling? Um, sheepishly raising hand, ME!!!

In 2012 I'm going to try some new things... LOT'S of new things. Some big ideas and some small ideas. I've given some hints on Facebook and will provide just a few more below. I'll detail each of them as the weeks pass on and I will invite you to join me on many of them.

Impossible HQ

I'll be modifying this. Since XMas is soon to be over.

With EMPHASIS on the NO WHINING. And I'm not just talking about my kids.

I'm looking forward to sharing with you and to hearing all about what you've got planned for 2012!!!!

Let's LIVE LIFE LOUD!!! I'm not sitting down.

Dragging A$$ lately - THE REAL DEAL!

So let's get real shall we? I just and I mean JUST posted my last blog titled "Dragging A$$ Lately" and as soon as I posted it I felt like... well that seemed CANNED. I don't like Canned. EVERYONE tells you what I just told you to do to stay balanced.

Balance can mean a lot of different things. When I think of being balanced in terms of my life I think "not feeling INSANE."

What makes me feel 'not insane' might be different from what makes YOU feel 'not insane'.

For me: exercise and a plan = sanity! And exercise as I like to do it would likely be defined as INSANE by a large majority of the population. Or so it seems when I talk to people about what I'm doing. I do have to scale back my desired amount of exercise to fit in, well, life sometimes. This is why the whole endurance thing works for me. I like to be WORKED over! I like to run for more than an hour - hell it takes me an hour just to warm up - I like to do multiple workouts in a day.

This gets me in trouble sometimes... I tend to NOT take a break and burn myself out. So there is where I need to discover my BALANCE!

So the truth in HOW I stay balanced through the holidays is to HAVE A PLAN. Not a plan on how to execute parties, or gifts, or decorations... a PLAN for my WORKOUTS!

A training Plan!

The past two years I have trained for a marathon over the winter and I've got to say that they were likely my MOST SANE winters yet. I told myself I was not going to train for a marathon this year because, frankly, I'm a little burnt come spring/summer season when I'm supposed to be training hard for triathlon, but when push came to shove.. I was NOT SANE (aka BALANCED) not running.

An EPIC (to be announced soon) opportunity was pretty much dropped in my lap ... it involves copious amounts of running... and I JUMPED at it. Guess what... I now feel sane. Despite all the BS I've been dealing w/ lately (yea, that non-holiday people dying, back surgeries, tooth aches.. etc etc stuff)

I feel SANE and BALANCED.

Does that make my last, somewhat canned, post total BS!? No... I do those things too, but my workouts are a bit more, um, extreme and mandatory. Did you SEE that word? MANDATORY! Because I am TRAINING for something. I'm not just going to the gym to work off the gingerbread man cookies I gorged on  last night. I'm running, lifting, stretching for a PURPOSE that means something bigger than gingerbread men to me. (Side note: this training thing tends to keep me out of the gingerbread man binge.... but allows for me to endulge in one w/o my pants button flying across the room.)

So here we come back to something I've discussed before. Your WHY! Perhaps you don't TRAIN for EVENTS, but you are a certifiable gym rat. What's your WHY... beyond the gingerbread man. And make a PLAN... to progress to lifting heavier weights (or lifting at all), doing more reps, doing a big girl push up, doing a pull up. Have a GOAL! This is what will get you to the gym and keep you FOCUSED and BALANCED over the holidays! (and during any high stress time in your life)

Okay. I feel better now. Having given you the 'standard' speel and my REAL speel. Find your WHY... Holiday or not and the balance will come.

And while that other stuff is important - for me - the workout is the MOST important in keeping me BALANCED/SANE!

Okay... off to RUN!

Dragging A$$ lately?

Yea I said it... Merry CHRISTmas

It's the holidays... shouldn't we all be enjoying some crazy wonderful merriment!? Raise your hand if you are 100% lovin' it this season! Yes, I can see you. No, I'm not telling you where I put the cameras so stop looking over your shoulder!

I won't get into my craziness this holiday season... because it's getting old and I'm tired of giving it attention. My weird holiday season aside I think we all struggle a bit over the holidays to maintain our sanity.

The holiday foods and parties abound. Even if you aren't a party goer it comes into your life. Work stuff, kids (even my anti sugar butt has been baking up a storm - okay it's a dull breeze - and we are going to do gingerbread houses), the "oh it's the holidays' libations... the stress of

GETTING IT ALL IN!

Again, raise your hand if you have skipped a workout because you are TOO BUSY! Raise your OTHER hand now to indicate that you've loosened the reigns on your food and drinks as well!

Okay.. put your hands down. Let's  move on.

The new year is coming... let's start getting some BALANCE now. Let's not wait. These things work during any time of stress... holidays and otherwise.

Say NO! Maybe you're super cool and are being invited to every party on the block... I KNOW you don't necessarily want to GO TO all of them. Say NO! It's okay. Your kid's school is pulling you in a million different directions to help out with the parties etc that go on at school. And GOD FORBID you have more than one kid in different classes. Double (triple, quadrupal) whammy. SAY NO! It's okay! Work obligations, end of year deadlines... Say NO!

Say YES! Yes to your workout. FIND the time, MAKE the time. DON'T fall off the bandwagon! Recruit a friend to go with you so you KNOW you can't blow it off because s/he will be waiting for you. Get up at day break and GET ER done if that's what it takes. Will you be crabby about getting up early.. perhaps, but YOU'LL be DONE! Maybe you'll even create a new habit.

I kick it old school.

DRINK... your water! This is HUGE. At least I find it to be HUGE! Water flushes those toxins out... you know the sugar and alcohol etc that you are indulging in! Water feeds you cells and lubricates your joints... keeps the ol' brain in tip top shape. Wash out the cob webs and the toxins. I like to carry a 32 oz Nalgene around with me all day. I try to drink FOUR of them. I sweat a lot when I workout. If I'm spinning I finish AN ENTIRE bottle... and don't include it in my FOUR. Drink at least 8 oz of water upon waking! Your body will thank you and YOU will thank ME! Drink it w/ your morning coffee if you must have your coffee. It's okay!

ENJOY! It's the holidays. Eat the fun foods. Have a cookie OR the pie OR the cake. Drink egg nog. Have some candy canes. Chocolate.. OMG love the chocolate. That said.... LIMIT yourself. Don't deny yourself... but LIMIT. Keep it under control!

RELAX! If you have to ... SCHEDULE IT! Whatever it is that you do to relax. Curl up by the fire w/ your honey. Watch a movie. Have a random coffee date with a friend. Don't make it a thing. Just something easy and fun. Read a book.  Take a nice long hot bath. You get the idea.

Are you maintaining some semblance of balance? How are you doing it? What's your key to stress relief. For me it's keeping my workouts and finding some quiet time every day. Sitting here blogging in a quiet house drinking a nice hot cup of coffee ALL BY MYSELF is pretty golden for me!

Happy Holidays, Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas!

And please check out my follow up post called THE REAL DEAL!

Epic PAIN

I would love to be writing about all the cool things rolling around for 2012 (I mean the craptastic things)

but

I

hurt!

A LOT!

I have a tooth ache.

First one ever!

Holy hell it hurts!

Stay tuned. I'm still here.

2011 is getting in it's last licks.

I won't stay down for long.

Say a prayer for me.

For pain relief.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I'm starting 2012 off saying it's going to be super duper craptastic!

So looking through my blog archives for something and noticed something. Two posts... almost identically named:
- 2010 wasn't exactly epic
- Was 2011 Awesome?

Two things.

1. I set myself up for epic failure each year by laying out crazy stupid expectations on myself. Either that or I'm just too hard on myself expecting PERFECTION on each thing I laid out. Yes that is probably it!

2. EVERY year at this time of year I pretty much SUCK! I should just accept that. I should just slow down a bit and be cool with it. Right?

Geez what a debbie downer I am .. it's the holidays girlie... LIGHTEN UP ALREADY!!!

So I'm going to label 2012 the year of craptastic! Should keep the expectations in check, no?

I jest. I won't call it that. I will still expect it to be epic and for me to figure ALL THE WORLDS problems out all by my little ol' self.... but perhaps I'll try to not be so hard on myself when maybe I don't have it ALL figured out! Or I'll just focus on the good of the year. I tried this year! I did deem 2011 awesome... after pointing out all the ways that it was not quite awesome.

My dad made a comment the other day (he wasn't specifically referring to me.... or was he?)

"Man you know how to find the black cloud around every silver lining." 

Great!

So as you can see I'm in my sweet December month of suckitude (referring to my attitude).... but awareness is the first part of a solution right?

As always... just keepin' it real. It ain't all sunshine and roses up in here!

You may now return to your regularly scheduled Christmas, er holiday, jingles and merry making. I'm going to go see if I can get my head out of my ass so I can enjoy it all too!

Maybe it's my looming birthday? nah... I don't care about age. most days.

7 things to do to get your fitness life jump started!

I generally love this time of year. A time to reflect on the past year and a time to think about what's to come for the next and what I hope to accomplish! I love me a good plan!

We all know that many people set fitness/nutrition/health/weight loss goals for a coming year... let's get real most people are setting weight loss goals. I challenge you to see beyond the weight loss this year!  

Step away from the scale and the obsession with a number. 

Make it about something else and I guarantee you the weight loss will be a nice side effect!

I started this lifestyle of mine many years ago and it has changed and evolved over the years and I'm always open to (looking for) ways to evolve it! It all started way back when. I was probably around 10 years old. My dad was a runner. I road my bike with him. That's pretty much the long and short of it. I don't remember being particularly inspired by it all back then, but I did enjoy this quiet time with my dad.

If you asked my dad it started much earlier than that now that I think about it. I was probably 5 or 6 and I decided one day I wanted to go run with him. I dawned my sweet tube socks, shorts and a sweat band (man I wish I had that photo) and I think I lasted a block before I declared that I had a 'fever' (aka I was getting hot and sweaty) and had to return home. This would be his memory not mine... as aside from the photo I have zero recollection of this ever happening. Without photographic evidence I'm not sure I would believe him that it ever happened.

I spent some time playing sports as a kid... I was never particularly good (or inspired) by it all, but I'm a social animal and liked the time with my friends. I'd love to say it kept me out of trouble, but it didn't really.

Fast forward many years.... college. I went away for an internship, took up running because I was bored and got in fairly good shape for the first time in a long time. I'm not going to lie I enjoyed the physical benefits of being able to proudly wear a bikini, but I also felt better mentally. We'll call it more balanced. I'm sure the lack of alcohol and late nights helped as well.

I ran on and off in college, got a jobby job after college in a new city and saw an advertisement for marathon training with Team in Training. I had thought that running a marathon would be interesting a few years prior, but knew it wouldn't happen while I was partying working so hard at school.

I decided that I would run a marathon with Team in Training. I loved it. I loved Team in Training and the camaraderie and support I got from a great group of people. I met tons of people in my age group that were all interested in something I was interested in. (Side note: I married the brother of a friend I met in TNT... many years later, but still.)

I would go back and forth ... run a marathon or half marathon... do nothing... for a few years.

What really got it to stick for me? Would you believe having kids? Not because I needed to get my body back (that was a perk), but because I needed to get ME back and my sanity. (perhaps this sounds familiar?) I had twins in 2006. They are, um, wonderful, but they suck the life out of me. (Come on if you have kids you know what I'm talking about.) The fitness goals gave me an identity that was my own - outside of mommy - and much needed alone time. Honey you need to watch the kids because I need to go swim/bike/run. I found that when I wasn't exercising I wouldn't make the time for MYSELF to go and do something else.  

This was MY THING! 

When the kids were only 8 months old I turned again to Team in Training - this time to train for a triathlon. Something I had always wanted to do. I figured my life really wasn't going to get any simpler than it was at the time.

I completed my first olympic triathlon at Chicago Accenture tri in August of 2007 when my kids were one year old. (I did the race the next year as well and remember seeing a woman kiss her about 1 year old good bye before she got in line to race and thought, "wow she's got a one year old and she's racing. That's amazing.... Wait I did that. I'm amazing!" That was a pretty cool moment. A moment that I realized how much is possible when you just set your mind to it!

Just for the sake of circling back to WHY I opened this post the way I did. Now when I'm out training I do think back to the seed that my dad planted in me by taking me out on those runs. While I don't remember thinking I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE MY DAD AND RUN when I get older or anything like that .... a seed was planted!

What seeds are YOU planting in your kids minds?

So as you are contemplating the coming year I would suggest the following to GET STARTED with your fitness goals!

1. Identify your WHY: Things tend to stick when you have a good reason to do them. What is your why? What is your reason? To be more active with your kids. To finish a race in a particular time. To lose weight (this is a viable reason even if I asked you not to focus on it). To have more energy. To climb a flight of stairs without being winded. To reduce your cholesterol. To be a good role model for your children. To have more tone to those not so toned arms. To fit into THAT dress for your reunion/wedding/friend's wedding/honeymoon/anniversary. To raise money for a great cause (ie Team in Training). Whatever your reason you NEED to find it. And when the days come that you just don't WANT TO you pull your WHY out of your back pocket. You put it in your face and you REMIND yourself why you started this whole mess in the first place. Identify with it and kick that lazy part of yourself in the ass and say .... GET IT DONE!

2. Just start: You don't need to wait until you find that thing that sounds perfect to you... your "This is my thing".... you don't really know what your thing might be until you try it! I jumped into running and triathlon having no idea if it would be 'my thing' and lucky for me it was. Along the way I have tried many many THINGS! Racquetball, yoga, weight lifting, aerobics, spinning, rollerblading, skiing, snow boarding... you get the idea. You can start out walking around the block with the family dog... as you go along in your journey be open minded and try new things. But for the LOVE just START moving!


3. Set goals: This can be quite  range of things. I like to choose races. They get me going. I NEED that carrot. Your goal could be to complete a 5k (half marathon, marathon), a triathlon, learn how to lift weights, get your nutrition under control, lose weight, get your cholesterol down, control your diabetes, etc. Give yourself an end date... 6 months, a year. 
 
4. Set micro goals: Now give yourself smaller / shorter term goals so you can see progress along the way and stay motivated. If your goal is a half marathon how about a 5k, or shoot run around the block without stopping to walk, to get through an entire cardio style class at the gym, to loose 1 lb a week for a month, to decrease your soda consumption to one a day, to eliminate sugar/caffeine, or to stop eating after your dinner (bc we know you AREN'T hungry - that one might have been for me).

5. Make a plan: I come up with a plan for the year - races I will be doing. Then I have a schedule that progresses me through those races. Every Sat or Sun I sit down with my calendar and plan out my week... because we all know things happen that might cause me to have to deviate from my overall plan. This is where I SCHEDULE my daily workouts. Now you might not be into the race thing. Perhaps you are more of a gym rat. Get out your gym's schedule and make sure you WRITE the classes that you are taking IN YOUR CALENDAR! You don't need to plan a year like I do, but you do need a plan. WHAT DAYS are you going to workout... WHAT TIME... what type. PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR... make it a priority.. by doing this you make YOU a priority!

6. Prepare: Lay your clothes out or pack your bag the night before your workout. IF you are a mom and have lunches to make or bags to pack for your kids (and maybe yourself) do it the night before. Essentially you want to ELIMINATE any EXCUSES you might think of in the morning.

7. Enlist friends: This can take many shapes and forms. You can enlist workout buddies. You can make your plans public and talk to specific (read supportive) friends and check in with them regularly. You can post your plans on your blog, facebook and twitter .. those folks will keep you in line. Find those people that you KNOW you can count on when you are feeling weak. Who can you call for a good ol' kick in the rump when you are slumping?

So pull out a sheet of paper and your calendar. Identify WHY you want to do this, set a GOAL, START moving, set GOALS, set MICRO goals, make a PLAN, Prepare to execute the plan, enlist your FRIENDS to help you succeed!

Do it NOW! Don't wait..... it will take time, but I PROMISE you you will create a habit. You WILL get to the point where you WANT to ... no, HAVE to... exercise. You will get to the point where you don't feel 'normal' when you don't. Seriously! I promise. You can come hobble me if you don't get there... but only if you DO IT REGULARLY for at least three MONTHS!

I believe in you! Now YOU believe in you!