1 + 2 = Success!!!

So... I made it to exercise class this morning.  WAHOOOOOO!!!  That is a HUGE accomplishment for me!  I sure felt great afterward!!  Tired - :) - but great!

I've realized something in the past few days.  I KNOW what will bring me success.  I know this equation will bring ANYONE success!!!!!

It's 1 + 2 = SUCCESS!!  You dying to know what the numbers stand for yet??.... :)

Well, I'll tell you what they're NOT!  Neither one of them stands for exercise!!!  Surprised??  Yeah, me too. :)  Especially after the fact that I just bragged about going to exercise class this morning!! :)  Exercise is SUPER important.  It's VITAL to a healthy lifestyle.  In fact, part of the reason I am exercising is because of my future.  I want to be a mom that's running up and down the soccer field with my boys.  I want to be the mom that's keeping up with my kids as they run around theme parks - and even with my grand kids for that matter!  I want to hike the Appalachian Trail with Tony.  I want us to be an active family.  Some of my absolute best memories with my family involve exercise.  Hiking the mountain behind our house while watching Logan lead the way and NOT GET TIRED the whole time!  Going snow-shoeing with Tony on his bday up donut falls and being able to go all the way up to the falls!  Climbing Mt Olympus for my birthday 2 years ago - (it took us 7 1/2 hours) - but we did it!!  Competing in the team triathlon with Tony and Kelli - we rocked!!!  Running and riding bikes to the library or Subway and back.  Beating Tony in a pool with a kick board (that's my claim to fame and pretty much the only thing I can beat him at... besides mini golf and Skipbo!! :)  I  mean, if you know the DuVall's - then you know that vacation really is spelled W-A-L-K-I-N-G...  I LOVE that and it's an ESSENTIAL component to a happy, healthy life. 

But, that's NOT what will bring me success right now in my quest to rid myself of my muffin top!  The 2 numbers stand for this...

1 - COUNTING CALORIES.  You all know I HATE doing this.  I seriously despise it and probably right now don't hate anything more in my life (except waking up early for exercise class! :)  But it is a LIFE-SAVER!  The absolute worst thing anyone can do is "eat out of a bag".  Night time eating while watching tv will kill you!  Mindless afternoon snacking while surfing the web is terrible!  Starving yourself during the day so you binge at night is AWFUL with lasting consequences.  You can exercise all you want, but it won't make a lick of difference if you aren't reducing your caloric intake.  In fact, here's a simple math equation.  One night you sit down in front of the tv.  You have 2 choices - 1) do an hour of aerobic exercise or 2) catch up on your latest favorite tv series (my latest is White Collar) while eating M&M's.  So my aerobic tracker (just a free thing online) says that in 1 hour of HIGH IMPACT aerobic exercise, I burn 411 calories.  Sounds good, right??  Then I look at this same app which tells me that in 1/2 cup of M&M's, there are 420 calories.  SERIOUSLY!??!  So... I can either work my tushie off for an hour to burn those calories - or... I can just sit down to watch tv and eat NOTHING!  It's the SAME THING!!!  (Again, if you're gasping here thinking I'm telling you not to exercise, calm down, take a deep breath and read my paragraph above!)  All I'm saying is - it's shocking how long it takes to burn calories and how quickly you can put them back in your body.  And in reality - who can stop at just 1/2 cup of M&Ms!!! :)  So... that's the first thing.  Monitor your portion size and calorie intake.  It WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!!

The second number in the equation is..... 2 - PERSEVERANCE!!!  My mom and I were chatting about this last night.  I was explaining how in 3 1/2 weeks of being AWESOME and healthy, I have not lost anything.  I feel good, but other than that - no difference.  It really is discouraging.  BUT... we both agree that our bodies work this way.  We seem to work and work and work with no difference.  Then all of the sudden - maybe even 2-3 months down the road, we REALLY start to notice changes.  I think it's that way with A LOT of people!  I remember in a nutrition class in college, my professor talked about how this is specifically the case with women (although it can be just as true in men as well...) that we work and work and work and nothing happens.  So we give up!  RIGHT before the "SOMETHING" was about to happen.  It's like running a race and giving up, assuming you won't win because the fog is blocking your vision... so you sit down - or you turn back around to the starting line (NO - PLEASE DON'T GO!!!)  But if only you could see that the finish line is actually just 30 feet away!!!!  I HAVE to keep going!!!  Regardless of the lack of progress!!  2 summers ago when I was running with Jen and Melanie every night - (although granted instead of doing it for weight loss, I was doing it to help them run since I tricked them into believing I was an expert runner... ha ha ha...) it wasn't until the end of the summer that I realized I was looking much better in my clothes.  But that was after 4 straight months of running 5 nights a week!  (And PS - another benefit to exercising at night... it cuts down on the nighttime binges!!!)

So - keep in mind my new formula...

Calorie Counting + Perseverance = SUCCESS!!!

I KNOW WE CAN DO IT!!!!! 

(Any success stories or TEMPORARY failures you would like to share???)