It's ON!

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. OK, I wish I were that profound, or even that this contest was.

But it is a jumpstart, and for many, a continuation of the end goal: a fitter, healthier, and therefore happier, "me". And it starts today officially. Yes, it is true. Today I am like George Costanza, with my arms up in the middle of the city: I proclaim this the Summer of Me!

I was driving home from Atlanta last night where I went to my Godson's christening, and I was thinking as I was stopping for a Blizzard at Dairy Queen about how unmotivated I was feeling. If I'm being honest, here. And then, thanks to my new pink Palm Centro phone that has a keyboard on it because I'm a fake tech geek, I was reading comment after comment from you.

I was so inspired. Yes, I am going to work out this week, six times. I will weight train for three and run on the other three. I will eat well. Because I know that there are dozens of women like me doing the same thing, having to dig deep and do the work.

That is, after all, what this contest is for, right? Motivation. Inspiration. Risk-taking. Challenge. Failure. Success. Highs. Lows. But above all, Community. I hope to meet my goal of 10 pounds, or at least come close, by the end of this challenge. But even if I don't, I want to look back and say, yes, I pushed myself. I wanted to be lazy. But I wasn't. I wanted to eat crap food. But I didn't. I did the work. And it was work. And now look at me. I'm HOT. Just wanted to throw that hot part in there for good measure.

And then instead of weight loss, I can focus on weight maintenance. Wouldn't that be nice.

So thank you for doing this with me. I hope that we will be able to push each other to keep going when we want to give up like we have in all our previous attempts. Let's get 'er done, once and for all. Seriously.

That being said, here are the rules again:
-Leave me a comment telling me you're joining and what your goal is (if you haven't already).
-Post something about it on your blog and link here to the contest. Share the love!
-Grab a ticker like the one on my sidebar and start the count! (If you already have one with pounds lost previous to the contest, zero it out and start fresh).
-Then, weigh in, and stop back here every Friday for "Fat Ticker Friday" and comment with your results from the week. If you write a post on your blog on Fridays to discuss what went right or wrong for the week, we have our own "Fat Ticker Friday" linky at Mr. Linky's Magical Widgets (http://www.blenza.com/ -- where you get the linky for memes like Thursday Thirteen and Wordless Wednesday). Feel free to put it up on your site's post too -- so we can visit each other! Encouragement for the other participants is key to keeping up the motivation!
-You must comment here with your weight loss results for the week on "Fat Ticker Friday"to be eligible for the prize drawing each Friday.
-Grand prize (to be announced) for "biggest loser" (in a good way, of course).
-Anyone who meets their goal is still a winner -- One More Mile will give you a little somethin somethin (a sticker or magnet with one of their slogans --and they are great slogans!)

Without further ado, here is the prize for our first week:

A set of Raspberry Body Lotion, Body Wash, and Bubble Bath from Bath and Body Works, along with your choice of t-shirt from the online runningwear site, One More Mile. You choose the shirt, the size, and the logo. Aren't they nice? Head on over there and look at their cool stuff! (Their slogans rock!)

Good luck this week! As Chris Farley once said, "Stay strong, little root!"

It's ON!

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