preparation (2 questions)

[Guest guest]

My name is Amy, and I'm a newbie - kind of.

I've " kind of " done Body For Life before - several times. I lost

some fat, felt better, then I had more and more free days, until

they were ALL free days. I now realize there is no such thing

as " kind of " .

To quote Yoda, " Do or do not, there is no try. " and " Dwell on the

could haves, we must not. Focus on the solution, we must.... " Yoda

was a wise man...er...creature. (Actually, the wise person was

whoever wrote that line, but Yoda got to say it. I digress.)

In the spirit of focusing on the solution, I am planning to start my

first real, honest to goodness Challenge on Friday, April 27. I have

43 pounds to lose - probably 3 Challenges and a lifetime of

maintenance. In the first Challenge I want to lose at least 18

pounds. Right now I'm in a size 14. I really want that size 5 from

10 years ago. I'm really out of shape. I want to be able to run a

10k. Maybe even a marathon in a couple of years. Look good in

shorts. I know the solution is B4L.

I'm doing the obvious stuff - planning meals, planning workouts,

shopping, rearranging the kitchen so the pop-tarts aren't in MY

cabinets, etc. I've got the B4L and E4L books, journal, gym

membership, running shoes, old race t-shirts, ipod, scale, tape

measure, and camera. I even have an elliptical trainer and some hand

weights at home.

I HAVE all the THINGS I need in order to be successful.

Q1. Looking back, is there anything that you wish you'd done to

prepare yourself - mentally or physically - for your first challenge?

Q2. What's your mantra? What is the one thing you can tell yourself

that will get you through a tough situation - like birthday cake in

the middle of the week, or 4 more reps on that last set?

Amy