"The #1 reason why people give up..."

"Why am I even doing this?  I've seen no progress recently - though I haven't exactly been on diet 100% or making even close to all of my workouts.  Maybe I should just take a break after this week and come back in a few months...I just want to be there already!  I have so much further to go..."

These are my thoughts as I lay down - trying to force myself to be motivated through my ab circuit in gym.  Normally, I am pumped, happy to be there, and excited for all challenges - tonight was different though. Tonight, I was ready to really give up.

Just then, I was moved into ball slams.  On my way over, I noticed the message for the week on the white board:

"The #1 reason why people give up so fast is because they tend to look at how far they still have to go.  Instead of how far they have gotten!" - Wise words from Josh, one of the trainers here. 

I've never needed to read this more.  I have been focusing on the fact that my body isn't where I want it to be yet - but that's just it - maybe it is not there yet, but it will be.  I have made so much progress from when I started in March, I just have to keep pushing - knowing that it won't happen over night - and also that it won't happen if I don't stick to what I am supposed to be doing to get there.  This message gave me that extra push of motivation to knock out my 100 ball slams much faster than usual, and to push through the rest of my workout.

I know I'll get there - I just have to keep pushing.

In other news:  I finally went swing dancing.  Yay for checking that off the list. I went with my friends Nic and Justin.  It definitely was a good time!  I learned some sweet moves and danced all night!

Total number of things completed:  81.  

20 more with 285 days to go!

-jennilea

23 Year Old Flower Girl

Where has the time gone!  Nearly 2 months since I have blogged.  I am definitely slacking.
Let's start off with checking off one of my goals:

I have always wanted to be a flower girl, but no one ever picked me.  Sad.  At 23 years old, you realize that it will never happen...unless, you have an awesome aunt!  My aunt Sherry had a nice little ceremony to get hitched, and decided to use me as her flower girl!  This definitely made my life!  Let's look at the photo below:

I was able to pick out the dress I wanted to wear, so I chose this one, because it is pretty, and has flowers on it.

My aunt said I rocked it, because it helped to guide her down the aisle.

As you can see, the wedding is a bit unconventional.  The groom was wearing a snoopy shirt and a top hat, and the happy couple decided to step into their marriage rocking some combat boots!

It was a fun time, getting together with family.

I took Jessica with me, and we decided we would crash another wedding that was in the same park.

We tried to be sly as we crept over to the other wedding.  We were very casual and acted like we owned the place.  We decided we should sit at a table until the dancing really picked up.  As we made our way to our desired table, a group of people started staring at us.  *gasp* "They know!" was all I could think of.  We decided to walk around another direction.  Dancing picked up a bit, so we decided to sit at a table near the dance floor.  While we waited, mosquitoes were having their way with our skin.  A guy walked up to me and asked, "want some bug spray!?  They are everywhere!"  I gladly took the can of spray and said, "Thanks!  This wedding is beautiful.  Man, aren't they such a cute couple?"  He agreed. Just then, I felt a bit more comfortable being at the wedding. We made our way to the dance floor, and danced for a few songs.

On our way back to my aunts wedding, we made sure to say goodbye to a few people, "Bye, have a great night!"

It was a great success.

I now have 75 goals completed. 376 days left!  I can't believe I am nearly in my final year.
Knowing I am going into the last year of my project, I realized this is my last opportunity to spend the new year in New York.  I had to buy tickets ASAP, so I went to Priceline, where they actually allow you to bid on your flight prices.  I got tickets from Sacramento to New York for $378 per person!  Amazing prices!  Jessica will be joining me on this lovely trip, and I cannot wait!

Another upcoming goal is swimming with sharks, which I will be doing on November 1st!

I had to remove toilet training my cats from the list, because Belle just would not take to it.  She started peeing everywhere, and I most definitely do not want my apartment to smell like pee so...that's done.  I also removed another thing from my list that was random and a waste of my precious list.  I need to add 2 more items.  Let me know if you have any ideas!

Other things:
My degrees finally came in the mail:

I have finally started and Sac State and love it!  My teachers are amazing and the campus is beautiful!  I am hoping to graduate after the Fall 2014 semester.  :]

 I got to pet more animals - including a baby tiger:

And I bought size 5/6 pants!  Though I know I am not fully fitting into size 5/6, but in this style of pants, I have moved down a size, which is awesome:


The end of this year has definitely been much better than how the year started.  I am ready to move on and up to bigger and better things.

In other news:  Otters hold hands while they sleep so they don't drift away from each other.  How sweet!  Read more here...

-jennilea

Recap and Progress

First, because the blog has began to get so many hits, I figured now would be a good time to reintroduce what I am doing here.  In January 2012, I began the Day Zero Project.  This project is a list (that I have created) of 101 things to do in 1001 days.  I did not want this to just be a list of random things; I wanted this list to mean something.  To me, this list is about being fearless. 

Taylor Swift says it best: “To me, Fearless is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts, lots of them. To me, Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.” There are far too many things that I am afraid of:  Flying, heights, guns, snowboarding, surfing, etc.  There are so many things that can get you hurt if you are not careful.  My fears are keeping me away from living.  There are more car accidents than skydiving accidents or shark attacks.  The odds seem to be in my favor. 

In January 2012, I began on a journey to challenge myself in my fears, and to stretch myself as a person. I have decided to not allow myself to dream of things that will never happen.  To date, I have completed 63 of my goals, with 6 in progress, and 32 more to complete.  I've traveled to Europe, went skydiving, snowboarding, got fake arrested, held a tarantula, danced with strangers, rode a motorcycle, tried Ethiopian food, based all of my decisions off of a Magic 8 Ball for a day, started this blog…the list goes on.  This has, by far, been my best 475 days of my life!  It has led me to new experiences and some pretty exciting and awesome memories. 

Moving on, I have began reading "The Time Traveler's Wife," and I love it!  There are definitely some odd moments that make you think, "what in the world!?" For the most part, I really enjoy it.  Hopefully it will be finished by next week.

Next, we all know I have been working my butt off in The Dungeon with Jamie and Josh, so this week I decided to take a few progress photos.

I did not expect to see this kind of progress!  
The top two photos are from March.  My friend, Jessica had sent these photos to me, but I hated them, so I never saved them to my phone.  I am happy I kept the messages though because they are a great measurement of where I started.  
My hips and my back are what really amazed me!  I did not realize how horrible I looked while I was in that body, but seeing the progress - wow!
We work hard in The Dungeon, pushing ourselves through the breaking point and into a whole new level of fitness.  Everything is about tightening and toning!

I am finally starting to feel confident in myself, and for the first time, I feel as if my goals are actually reachable.  I am going to love this summer. :]
If you are really wanting to make a change in your body, please contact Jamie on the link above.  You will never regret a decision to make yourself more fit and healthy!

I've also decided to add another fitness goal to my Day Zero Project list: Climb the rope at The Dungeon!  Jamie, let's do this!

In other news:  "The world's most expensive swimsuit is a bikini that costs $30 million. It's made with more than 150 carats of diamonds all set in platinum."
(Follow UberFacts on Twitter)

-jennilea