Did you write out your goals? Do you read them every morning and/or every night?

Did you sign the pledge thing that the "why BFL works" site talks about? The one that says "Tomorrow and every day I will wake up leaner, stronger, and more muscular. I will have a (individual things here, I wrote thinner belly, smaller butt, and shapely thighs. (back to the pledge) Today I will do EVERYTHING it takes to achieve that goal"

I think that is a terrific mind game. To write that out and then sign it like it is a contract with yourself. I'm just curious to know how many of you actually did this?

Do you think it helps to read it from time to time?

And now that I'm finished with week 4, I'm doing it all over again. I just got myself a folder and little kiss stickers. Not KISS, like the band, KISS, although if I'd been able to find those, I would prefer them... anyway.....

In my notebook, I'm putting my daily/weekly goals. (I set mini goals for myself everyday- ex: To go an entire day without sneaking in an M&M from the breakroom. OR To run full sprint for 4 of my intervals.) I also put in my menu for the day/week. And my workout sheets for the day/week.

Every night before I go to bed, I will go over my notebook, and assess how I've done for the day, and what I'll do differently tomorrow.If I drink all of my water, I will give myself a kiss sticker. If I eat my planned menu, with no cheating...a KISS! If I hit 10s on my workouts, another kiss.

I did a similar nightly review for my first 4 weeks, and am trying to make it more fun for the next 8. Whatever it takes to keep you motivated, do it! It's rewarding to flip through the notebook and see all of your hard work on paper.

My goals are always changing. Always becoming more challenging. For ex: When I started, I set a goal of losing 10% body fat. Well, I think I'm halfway there already. So, I'm re-evaluating that goal. The awesome part of this fitness thing is that it will always be a work in progress. There is always something bigger and better to strive for.

God, I sound like Dale Carnagie. Didn't mean to turn this into a motivational speech. So, back to the question: yes, I did it, and I really believe it works!

Hi!

I did the entire "Crossing the Abyss" section and then read over my goals every morning and every night of Challenge 1. I found it very corny, but effective.

I also cut out magazine pictures of the body I wanted and pasted those into my notebook/journal.

I also formulated weekly goals, each Sunday night, to accomplish things that I felt would make my program more effective, eg: sleep 8 hours each night was my goal for Week 6, develop 4 delicious new entrees was my goal for Week 3, etc.

I'm currently on C2/W1/D7 and I'm still doing the weekly goal setting. Next week's goal is to drink 20 ounces of water every waking hour. But instead of reading my goals every morning during Challenge 2, I am reading this super-humorous post:

Why we do it...

I know you'll think I'm TOTALLY NUTS for using this as my inspiration! But I find it really funny, and it really motivates me to work my hardest at the gym and to stick like glue to my plan. It's been kinda difficult to stay on track when my friends call my efforts "Trilbe's crazy diet cult" and they try to talk me into having "just a little" dessert or they tell me "pasta is healthy."

It may seem dorky, but having some motivational reinforcement twice-a-day really helps to keep me from slipping. I didn't mess-up a meal nor miss a workout all through Challenge 1. And Challenge 2 is currently proceeding MARVEOUSLY!

Good luck! I think everybody has to find the formula that works for them, as an individual. I hope you find yours.

Trilbe

No. I don't do those. I find that affirmations, etc. don't affect me much. LOL. My day is too busy most of the time and slipping in just ONE MORE thing to do or read, etc. would just stress me out.

But hey.. whatever works! LOL