Finding My Motivation - Tomorrow?

What's the opposite of procrastination? Isn't it motivation? Even though I want to be thin and fit I find my motivation lately has been replaced with procrastination. How many times in the past few weeks have I told myself, "Tomorrow I work out" or "Tomorrow I start eating better". Yet, tomorrow never seems to arrive. Well things are going to change, I've reached my wits end for various reasons. Today I begin to change my procrastination back into motivation; here's what's going to help me.

Weather
As mentioned in a recent article, the lack of sun seems to drain all motivation from my system. At long last, the days are getting longer and soon to be followed with warmer days. As the days move along, tomorrow seems to be gradually approaching.

Clothes
There is nothing so motivating as trying to put a shirt or pair of pants on and realize they no longer fits. I can only blame the washer and dryer for so much. Currently I'm enraged it keeps eating one of my socks from every pair I own. Oh, how I long to once again put a shirt on and not have it ride up.

Food
Does this make sense, food as a motivation for me? I think it's more a reminder. For the past few years, I have been trained to not eat garbage/junk food. So lately as I've been doing so, I'm finding myself feel guilty for shoving that piece of pie into my pie-hole. I remember being satisfied as I ate my healthier dinners, and light snacks. So why have I been so bad with my eating lately? Probably because it's so easy to say you'll start eating healthier 'tomorrow', then find out the next day you are too depressed and turn once again to your favorite snacks. Suddenly you are locked in a never ending cycle. Funny how comfort food turns out to be anything but.

Health & Fitness
Believe it or not, I'm one of those persons who actually likes to go to the gym. The problem is actually getting to the gym. The short, cold Winter months make most people want to hibernate and I'm no exception. Still, I've been longing to make it back to the gym and do a few miles on the track at the very least. I've always rewarded myself with a trip to the hot tub or steam room. I've been feeling really bloated and miserable lately, so I'm longing for the time I will once again be fit and feel so much better. I'm tired of my back and legs hurting like they did back when I weighed over 300 pounds.

Travel
I think currently my biggest motivation is knowing my travel plans are coming closer and closer. This year I'm looking forward to a full week of vacation, something I haven't done in over 10 years. Being over-weight is not an option for me, I want to feel and look good in my travels.

Yes, I seriously want to be 20-30 pounds less in the next few months and I know if I don't get on the ball now, tomorrow won't be here till sometime next year. I refuse to accept that. I'm getting back to being serious with my fitness goals. I'm not going to start tomorrow. The time for excuses has past, the time for fitness is NOW!

Biggest Loser – Top 5 Faults of the Show

It’s a game.
When you first consider what the show is about, it’s hard to remember it's just a reality show and the main focus is on game play. Looking at it from that aspect and there is no problem. But the contestants on the show are trying to change their lives and the focus turns dramatically to weight loss. Watching these people change their lives can be truly inspiring and it’s what drew me to the show originally. Let's remember though, there is the $250,000 dollar cash prize and many of the contestants remind us of that. Ironically, those contestants are generally seen in a negative light and at times unfairly shunned by the other contestants and trainers. Not really fair when you consider it is just a game after all, and the prize is there for a reason – to inspire the contestants to do their best.

Couples
I get annoyed any season they bring couples to the show instead of individuals. Couples seem to heighten the game-play aspect of the show as alliances are now formed from the get-go. Once three or more couples align there is a major alliance formed with a possibility of controlling the game to their own end. This doesn’t happen so dramatically when just singles play, usually because several different groups form and many people focus more on voting people off based on weight loss rather than the person they like least. Also, once you are closer to the end of the game with any original couples still around, you KNOW they will always vote together. Blood is thicker than water and a contestant is certainly going to vote to save their own family member/friend rather than someone they met on the Biggest Loser ranch. If the show wants to focus more on the weight loss than on the game play, they need to go back to the original formula of singles.

Commercials
Normally commercial breaks don't bother me too much. In a world of DVR, it’s a simple task to simply fast forward through undesirable commercials. Ah, but the producers have found a way around that in the form of in-house commercials. I’m sure you could ask any avid follower of the show to name a brand of chewing gum or chicken and get the same response. I also know I can buy Biggest Loser books, movies and video games, though these are not advertised during the normal commercial breaks. Sure, they have their products and they want us to be aware of them, but each time they want to sell their own products or the products of their sponsors, they take away time from the game. The movie Space-Balls did this years ago as a joke; Biggest Loser doesn't have a sense of humor I'm aware of.

Recaps
Let’s go over what's been mentioned so far. The focus of the show tends to move away from the weight-loss aspect and more towards game play. Having couples enhances the game play focus, but when weight loss is the spotlight its usually interrupted with commercials in one form or another. Now that I’ve reviewed the points, let move on to the next one – recaps. Why is it after every commercial break they feel we are in need of being reminded of what just took place. Then at the beginning of the first hour we are given another recap of what took place during the first portion of the show. Now either the target demographic for the show is Alzheimer patients, or they think the average person watching has a piss-poor memory. I can't imagine other shows trying to pull this off, but then again the show does have lots of time to kill.

2-Hour Format
If I were to change something major in the show it would be the time frame. You’d think in 2 hours we’d get lots of great information and entertainment. For me it’s more of an aggravation. If the show were cut down to only an hour or even an hour and a half we could do away with many of the points above; i.e. the endless recaps, and product placements. Sure the producers want to make a buck, but what other reality show force feeds us their products as much as Biggest Loser does? The average person does not want to sit for two hours filled with recaps and product placements. A shorter condensed episode would be forced to maximize what the show is truly about; people changing their lives and giving couch potatoes and fitness nuts alike something to be inspired from.

Would Biggest Loser do this? Could changing the format save the show? Is the show even in jeopardy? Well, if they want to keep this viewer some things need to change. I really don't see it lasting much longer otherwise.

Jeffrey Scott