The Power of Goals and Rewards

Yesterday was a special day for me.

I'm going to go backwards for a minute. When I started this cognitive program to lose weight, I was asked to write a list of advantages. I had to make a list, that said: "if I could achieve my goal and lose the weight I wanted, what would be better in my life that would make it worth it to do all this work."

One of the things I had listed was to be able to run faster. I love running, which I know not everybody does. But it's part of how I keep myself healthy- body and soul. I try to run actual 'races' a few times a year so that I can see whether or not I have gotten faster.

Its a fact, the lighter you are, the faster you can run. And the more you work on strength training, building cardio endurance, fueling your body with foods that help your body move instead of slowing it down- the faster you can run.

A few months ago I signed up to do a half marathon through the national park in the Indiana Sand Dunes. It promised to be a gorgeous course, flat, and good weather. What I didn't count on was how few people were going to be there- but always up for a good experience, my friend Wendy and I bravely toed the starting line yesterday morning.

My race plan was simple. Run slower than I wanted to in the first 6 miles, run the pace I wanted for the next 4 miles, and then gun it and run out everything I had left in the last three miles. As I was running I reviewed in my mind all of the workouts that had gotten me here (an excellent cognitive tool to boost confidence btw). And I remembered what it had been like to run with those 35 extra pounds that I had on my body frame just two short years before now. My mind was busy and my legs kept moving- but it was a great day for me- I just felt good and content the whole way through. I ran through forests of changing leaves, past the beautiful Lake Michigan lake front, and through marshy high grass- and it was honestly breathe-takingly gorgeous.

In the last three miles, I let it rip. I ran each mile faster than the next, and almost cried with relief when I saw the finish line. I zoomed through and looked at my time. 1:50:33- a great time, and very close to hitting almost all of the goals I had set for myself.

But here's where it gets funny. Because this was SUCH a small race and a first time event- I placed first place in my age group of 30-34 aged women. I can't even tell you how funny and shocking this is, and how in any other race in the Chicagoland area with that time I might have placed in the top 100, maybe.

I got my medal in an awards ceremony, took the picture above, and chuckled to myself the whole way home. But here's where it gets interesting. On the way home I started craving snickers bars and cheese curls. And I wanted them now!

My brain said "Rach- you deserve it, you put in the work, you ran your heart out this morning- let's go raid a 7/11".

But another piece of me, the piece that this Healthy Habits program has created said "Rach- you only were able to run this way because of all of the times you didn't give in to cravings- wasn't this morning's experience the reward you actually wanted?"

And you know what- the second voice prevailed. Instead of junk- I instead splurged on a large hamburger for dinner, which would actually help my muscles heal through iron and protein. That race time and that age group award, that was what I had been dreaming about all those days on weight watchers, all those workouts when I was too tired, and what I had been focused on when eating healthy seemed just to hard.

So what are your goals? What are your advantages? If you can keep those reasons in mind, read them through EVERY DAY, and want them bad enough, you can achieve any healthy goal you desire. I achieved a little bit of mine yesterday. And it was more rewarding than any Snickers bar could be.