Week 3 Biggest Losers

We are now in Week 3 of the weight loss, Biggest Losers, challenge.  This week's challenge, they chose partners and then I had them compete AGAINST each other for the most minutes spent exercising.  I think this is a pretty good challenge.  It takes our very large group of competitors and narrows it down to just two people competing against one another.  At the end of the week, they will let me know who got the most minutes and then all the winners will be entered into a drawing.  I will then choose five people from the drawing for a prize.  So, it is a long shot to win anything, but my hope is that they will give it all they've got to be in the winning pot for the drawing and then lucky enough to be a winner drawn from that pool. 

I'm really really hoping that this is the week where it all clicks in.  At week 4, I know that a lot of people will realize we're a third of the way through and they haven't given it their full effort.  Then they'll either most likely drop out, or step it up; however, even if they step it up, they'll wish that they had gotten their head in the game earlier so that they would see better results.  I tell them this every single time, but you can only encourage, not motivate; the motivation they need to find in themselves. 

I can totally appreciate losing motivation or feeling stuck in a rut.  I think we've all been there, but the only person that can snap you out of that is yourself.  Lately, when I feel down, I do my best to think about what I do have going for me (which is actually quite a lot) and when I think about it in those terms I'm able to appreciate myself.  When you APPRECIATE yourself, you take better care of yourself!  True?  Of course it is!  I'm constantly telling people, "don't sell yourself short" or "you deserve this!" People short change themselves; they pick themselves apart and negate all their own value.  I'm guilty of this as well.  The key to happiness is to be happy with WHO and WHAT you are and take each day as an opportunity to nurture, grow and shine.  I truly believe that. 

I know my strengths, I know my passion and my drive.  I surround myself with people that help me grow and improve, because by being around those people I learn to appreciate qualities that I have not yet developed and I push myself to succeed.  When I'm in a rut, I ask myself, "what do i need to do to improve this situation?"  Sometimes, it's nothing.  Sometimes, you just need to wait it out and change the ATTITUDE.  Right?  Other times, you've got to roll up your sleeves and get to work.  You need to reevaluate your plan and asssess what's working and what's not.  That's a hard one, because change is easy to see, but hard to implement!

So my goal for this week is to challenge people.  I want them to compete against someone they care about and in a one-to-one combat face the strengths of their partner, and the weakness of themselves.  I want them to step up, realize that yes, we're ALL in a challenge, but not against 74 other people or even just 1 other partner, the challenge is removing our own limitations, climbing out of our own rut, and discovering what we are truly capable of doing. 

I just KNOW week 3 is going to be an eye opener!