My Biggest Loser Ranch

One of the things that I think is very important to my overall success is setting up the most successful environment.  If I want the changes to stick, I realized I needed to rethink HOW I live my life.  When I walked into my kitchen all I saw were snack foods and unhealthy foods on my kitchen counter.  When I opened my fridge, all of the "good for me" foods were hidden away in drawers at the bottom of the fridge.  My workout equipment was in a corner in my basement in an area that I didn't feel like spending even 2 minutes there.  I knew I would get bored doing the same thing every day, so I wanted to set up the most inviting environment for myself.  I wanted to create the most exciting environment for myself otherwise I knew I wasn't going to stick with this.  Here is how I transformed my space to be the most successful for me:

KITCHEN

- Removed all "bad for me" foods.  Hubby has his "bad for him" foods down in his room or hidden somewhere.

- Reorganized the fridge so the fruits and veggies are on the shelves, not hidden down in the drawers. 

- Put fruits, veggies, nuts and healthy snacks on the counter top in the kitchen.  This is where the chips, cookies and other crap used to live.  They were evicted four weeks ago. =)

- I started going to the farmer's market for much of my seasonal produce.  I also have stopped using those horrible produce bags.  I now bring towels and I am even going to look into sewing some reusable veggie/fruit bags that I have found on the net.

INDOOR WORKOUT

I have set up different options for myself inside.  

We have collected quite a few exercise items off of Craig's List at bargain prices over the years.  So I cleaned up this area, steam cleaned the tiles, steam cleaned all of the equipment to where they all looked brand new - it had quite a bit of dust build up from the years it has been sitting down there.  I obtained the gym flooring from Sam's Club for $20 for 30 sq feet of flooring (even got a few extras and a gym matt on the fireplace in the back.  I doubled up the flooring in the stretching area (between the treadmill and the fireplace) for more cushion against the tile floors.  The bowflex also has the leg attachment, but we are missing a pin (says my hubby) so I use it for what I can right now, but would love to have the leg extension on there soon.  The bike I bought over 5 years ago and it has lived in my shed.  It was very happy to be resurrected for this endeavor.

Down here there is also music, television/cable and the dvd player for any type of entertainment, workouts on demand, etc. while I am working out that will just keep me there longer.

OUTDOOR WORKOUT

I literally have a park on three sides of my house.  Across the street is a basketball court, to the right of that are the paved national park trails which are 45 miles long.

In the back of my house down a hill is the huge field where I can walk on field grass or at the baseball diamonds for more cushion than the trails or the treadmill can offer me for my knees.  The grass varies throughout the field so depending on the challenge I am looking for I can try different areas of the field for more or less of a challenge.

MENTAL WORKOUT

I have been reading everything I can find about healthy living, working out, etc.  I have the entire series of Biggest Loser books which I got for free when I signed up for biggestloserclub.com and I also have Dr. Oz's YOU and YOU on a Diet.  I have also read on the message boards that Jillian Michaels Master your Metabolism is also a fantastic read.  The more I have learned about how certain foods go together, about how to sustain energy over longer periods of time, which foods make me feel great and which ones can put me to sleep - the better I am at mastering my fuel source to keep me going throughout the day and keeping me on track for my goals. =) 

I have very supportive and informative friends on The Biggest Loser Club.  The challenges put on by the members there help me stay focused and on target.   I learn from their successes as well as from their stumbles.  I have a another group of friends through Facebook that I converse with on healthy living, working out and weight loss.  Keeping my mind on the task at hand and not fooling myself that these changes can be passive in my life has kept me focused and on task 100% for a month now.  I had to stop lying to myself about the severity of my weight, the looming of my 40th this year, and the deterioration of joints that I have experienced in just the last few years and get real about what needed to be done so I can live my life.

I also take time to think.  During my workouts I try to not think about anything else going on in my life.  I think about my health, how far I am pushing myself - I get into the moment and really relish that time that I am taking to rebuild my body - and rebuild my life.

I have created the most successful environment for me in my home.  Each day I try to find new ways that I can change or modify our routine, set up, lifestyle to make the little changes that will really make me successful.   

And that is how I have created my own Biggest Loser Ranch at home. =)