Back in March, I created a tournament bracket that has goals I’ve set for myself as well as rewards I get when I complete those goals. Some are weight goals, others are life goals, like running a 5K race.

My first 5K race was the Carlsbad 5000. I crossed the finish line in 33:21, and it was one of the most amazing feelings. Ever. It’s something that I’m proud of, it’s something that I worked hard to accomplish, it’s something that makes me more than just a number.

When I started my healthy living quest in February, I had no intention of running a 5K. I could barely run a mile, much less three. After awhile, one mile turned into two, which eventually turned into a lot of miles. I began thinking bigger, bolder. Originally, I didn’t think I’d be able to run a 5K until July. It’s only April, and I can already cross the 5K off of my list. But I won’t stop there. There’s a 10K in May and a Half Marathon in June that I still have to train for.

I was originally going to reward myself with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 because I like video games, particularly ones where you shoot people and blow them up. It relieves stress like no other. But, instead of dropping $60 on a prize that would only encourage me to continue sitting on my butt, I decided to reward myself with a pair of Vibram KSO.

Yes, they are a bit expensive, but totally worth it. I mean, my other alternative was a video game. This one at least gets me motivated to run.

Yes, they look like gorilla feet, but they help facilitate barefoot running by adding some protection.

After I bought them, I wore them for the rest of the day. I even ran 1.4 miles in them at the gym. I ran on the treadmill because I wanted to gauge distance AND speed. I honestly felt like I was flying. It’s so light! And it feels natural. I can’t hold an 8:45 pace for longer than two minutes, but with time and practice, I’ll get there. There is a small blister brewing on both of my big toes, but what’s a blister? It’ll go away in a few days.

Even though barefoot running is different, my form naturally changed. I didn’t think about landing on the ball of my foot. It just happened. The Vibrams are pretty comfortable, and it’s a lot easier running in them than I thought it’d be. Believe me. After yesterday’s real barefoot, Vibrams are a treat. There’s more padding than I expected. I seriously thought there would only be a thin layer of protective material, but it’s actually quite rubbery and thick on the soles.

Did I get weird looks at the gym? Didn’t notice. Don’t care. I’m comfortable in them. For the moment, my calves seem alright but I can feel that they were more tired than usual. They would quiver and shake during parts of my strength training. Nice. Natural calf raises.

The verdict? I love them. Thanks, Steve.

Gorilla feet equals happy barefoot Jess! Call of Duty, you’ll just have to wait for now.

Related posts:

1. Day 72: Project Barefoot
2. My Guest Post: Barefoot Running
3. Reward #3: Feeding America with Brownies

In light of March Madness, I created a tournament bracket that has goals I’ve set for myself as well as rewards I get when I complete those goals. Some of the goals are exercise and weight goals. Others are life goals that I want to accomplish, such as volunteering.

For the past six months, my mom has been volunteering for an organization called Feeding America. Feeding America is a hunger-relief charity that provides food for low-income people, particularly children. The branch that we volunteered at distributes food for elementary schools in East County San Diego.

How it works:

The volunteers come in on Thursday morning or afternoon. We function on an assembly line, placing food into brown paper bags. When I volunteered, the food packages contained canned spaghetti, uncooked rice, uncooked beans, crackers, cookies, and a small carton of milk. On Friday, these packages are delivered to the schools, and volunteers distribute them to children who qualify for the program. The food is supposed to last throughout the weekend. According to Feeding America’s website, they feed over 14 million children a year and ONE DOLLAR can buy NINE pounds of food.

I had a great time volunteering with my mom even though I was dead tired. I rarely function before ten in the morning, but knowing that my time was going towards something productive, something bigger than myself, made it worth it. My mom is the one on the left.

It sounds ridiculous that I get to reward myself with a batch of brownies for volunteering and reaching out to help my community, but I needed some incentive to wake up early. I’m going to go back and volunteer again this coming Thursday. If you’re interested, you can find your nearby Feeding America food bank here.

For doing something good, I rewarded myself with something DELICIOUS: peanut butter brownies. And no, I did not eat the entire batch. I had one piece.

The brownies are healthy, rich, super low in fat yet super sweet! And there’s no high fructose corn syrup. I used No Pudge Brownie Mix which requires 2/3 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt.

After making the batter, I added five tablespoons of Better ‘n Peanut Butter and swirled the peanut butter with a knife. The peanut butter is a hit or miss. You either love it, or you don’t. I love it. You can get both the brownie mix and peanut butter at Trader Joe’s.

I baked the brownie for 30 minutes. You can bake for longer if you want it less gooey.

Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting into nine pieces. Sprinkle a dash of sea salt on top and serve!

Each piece of brownie has 183 calories and 0.6 grams of fat.

If you make the brownies, let me know how they turn out!

Related posts:

1. Weigh-in #9
2. Day 30
3. Day 65: Eating With Your Senses

In light of March Madness, I created a tournament bracket that has goals I’ve set for myself as well as rewards I get when I complete those goals. Rewards make things so much more…rewarding. It gives me a brief moment to take a break and remind myself that I’ve put a lot of hard work into getting to where I’m at today.

I completed the 4-mile run a few days ago, so it was time for a bubble bath. I have not taken a bath since 2008. I think baths are a waste of water and something about sitting in my own filth bothers me. Plus, when I was living in China, we didn’t have a bath and when I went traveling through Southeast Asia, they didn’t have hot water and I showered from a bucket or a river.

Taking a bath almost seemed foreign to me. Good thing there’s an amazing bath store called Lush. Their products are all handmade, smell great, and very creative. They have this bath bomb that you throw into a tubful of water, and it fizzes and explodes. It’s awesome, kind of like launching a grenade into your bath tub.

The one I used is called Think Pink. Trust me, I hate pink but it seemed fitting. If I was going to treat myself to a bubble bath, it had better be girlie. And girlie it was. After the bath bomb exploded and turned my bath water pink, it also released little hearts into the water so that I ended up bathing in a pool of hearts. It’s pretty neat. My skin ended up really soft and smooth. It was the perfect reward for a 4-mile run.

So ladies, get yourself some bath bombs. Boys, treat your special lady to a special bath. It’s worth it.

Related posts:

1. The Sunday Wrap
2. Too Much of a Good Thing is a Bad Thing
3. Weigh-in #8

Since I accomplished my 9-minute mile yesterday, it was time to reward myself. In case you haven’t been involved with BARACKetology (my favorite term for the week), I’ve started my own tournament in tandem with March Madness. I’m convinced I should have a short segment on ESPN, but Dick Vitale probably wouldn’t approve.

The bracket works like this: for each goal I accomplish, I get to reward myself. It’s accountability, but for rewards! I can’t stress how many times I’ve taken my hard work for granted and brushed it off like it was no big deal. But it IS a big deal. I busted my ass off to get that mile time, and for that, I decided to treat myself to a pampered pedicure from the salon and for only $28! I needed it, both mentally and physically.

Rewards seem like such a childish thing, but they have a powerful impact. They serve as positive reinforcement, helping me to strengthen my commitment to whatever goals I want to achieve. They become a reminder of what I’ve done, an acknowledgment of all my hard work, and a reiteration of the fact that I am slowly, but surely, achieving success. I have a habit of focusing on my failures and overlooking my successes, creating a negative vicious cycle that breaks me down mentally because I feel like I am never good enough. Rewards give me a chance to remind myself that I AM doing great and that I AM good enough.

It comes down to this: Work hard. Play hard. You can’t only have the work, and you can’t only have the play. You need a bit of both.

And yes, that is my foot.

Related posts:

1. Reward #2: The Lush Bomb
2. Day 70: My First Race
3. Reward #4: 5K for Project Barefoot

I love college basketball. I love March Madness. And I love the Final Four (I’ve been 3 times in a row). I’m disappointed that UCLA didn’t make the tournament this year (or even NIT, sad) but I’m still going to be filling out my brackets. Because of March Madness and Bracketology Sunday, I got inspired to create my own bracket but instead of basketball, it centers around weight loss and life.

click to view in full

Aside from it being fun and in tandem with March Madness, I realized that I don’t reward myself enough for my hard work. Instead of recognizing my accomplishments, I tend to focus on my failures. Instead of being totally stoked that I’ve lost 20.8 pounds in 6 weeks, I’m still kind of disappointed that I’m not in the 100′s. And I think a lot of us are like that. We forget about our achievements and instead, focus on what we still need to do. However, I think it’s important to celebrate our successes. In order to keep myself motivated and maintain my momentum, I need to reward myself for everything that I’ve done.

HOW?

This is where the bracket comes in. Instead of splitting it up into divisions like the NCAA does, I split it into two halfs: LIFE and BODY, because I believe that you can only win the National Championships (weight loss, muscle building, whatever your goal is) if you improve both your life and your body. You can’t improve your body, at least not permanently, until you improve your life/mind.

The BLUE boxes are my goals, what I need to achieve. The YELLOW boxes are what I’m rewarding myself with once I achieve the corresponding goal. The goals are set up from easiest to hardest, so that the first tier goals help me achieve my second tier goals and so on.

DURATION

I’m hoping most of these goals will be accomplished by tournament time next year (March 2011).

 

PARTICIPATION

I encourage you to join me! I’m printing mine out and taping it to the wall so that whenever I finish something, I can cross it off and put stars around it.

To download a PDF file that you can fill out on the computer, click here.

To download a JPEG file that you can edit in Photoshop or MS Paint, click here. You’ll need to right click and save to your hard drive.

Let me know if you’ve made your brackets. And if you aren’t, don’t forget to reward yourself for all the things you’ve been accomplishing. It’s the little stuff that counts!

Most importantly, have fun! Weight loss and life should be fun and entertaining, so go enjoy!

 

NOTES
163 goal marks 100 pounds lost from my highest weight ever.

One Love means to tell one person 5 reasons why I love them.

Mom iTunes and Mom Bike means that I need to teach my mom how to use iTunes and how to ride a bike. That’ll be quite the task.

Related posts:

1. March (MADNESS) Goals
2. One Solid Step at a Time
3. What Healthy Means to Me