What are you thankful for?

Have you seen (or participated in) the Facebook Thanksgiving tradition of stating what you are thankful for every day in the month of November until Thanksgiving?  I thought this was a great idea and something I wanted to do, but I have been so busy that it has slipped my mind every day (literally).  So, I thought I would make it up to myself by posting it here!  So, below is my list of everything I am thankful for.  Though I probably could make a list that reaches into infinity, I'll cap it at 24 as Thanksgiving lands on the 24th day of November this month.  Some things might be a little silly, other things are not silly at all.  So, here we go!

I am thankful for:

1. My parents.  My parents are incredibly supportive and have backed me up my entire life - even if I was doing something they thought was stupid.  They provided a good example of how to live my life: work hard and appreciate what you are given.  They also supported (but tried to talk me out of) me not going to college straight out of high school.  I may have stressed them out a lot but in the end, I am an explorer and needed to figure out for myself what I wanted to do with my life.
2. My sister.  My sister is hard on me sometimes (in a good way!) and super supportive all the rest of the time.  I learned a sense of hard work and competitiveness from her.  She also taught me how to be tough when times get rough.
3. My sister's kids!  They are flippin' cute and so much fun to be around!
4. Pets!
• Bella.  Bella is my cat who I adopted from the Humane Society over 5.5 years ago.  She was about to be put down because no one wanted a cat who had a food allergy.  I totally know how food allergies go and decided to take a risk.  Turns out, she didn't have a food allergy (or got over it) and is the absolute best pet.  She makes living alone much less lonely.
• Copper.  Copper is my parent's springer spaniel.  I picked her out (or rather, she picked me out) over 6 years ago and she is such a good walking buddy when I'm at my parent's house.  She also loves Bella.  Bella pretends not to love her back.
5. My grandmothers.  Both of my amazing grandmothers have passed but I still remember them at every holiday (and every day).  I miss having them around but I am so thankful for the time I was able to have with them.
6. My job.  My job has taught me so, so much.  I grew up a pretty shy kid and my job forces me to step outside of my comfort zone and learn to deal with difficult situations.  I also get to be creative and set my own schedule - not too shabby.  :)
7. My work-a-holic-ness.  I'm not sure that's a word, but I can definitely be a perfectionist at work and that leads to work-a-holic-ness.  This can be a major stressor (sorry coworkers!) but I also think I wouldn't be where I am today without this quality.
8. Pumpkin.  'Nuff said.
9. Coffee.  Again, 'nuff said.
10. Being able to cook.  I live alone and I think if I wasn't able to cook, I would be a mess!  Cooking is so relaxing and you get a tasty treat when you are done.  And, getting to control what I eat = healthy!
11. My inability to bake.  Every now and then, I'll randomly be able to bake something decent, but let's face it, I really can't bake.  I have no patience to perfectly measure ingredients and bake for an exact time.  This is a good thing because I'd never get healthy if I was able to bake perfectly!
12. Charlie.  Charlie was the cat I had before Bella.  Charlie had feline leukemia (FeLV) and feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) and I only had her for a year.  The thing about Charlie is that she A) taught my parent's dog, Copper, exactly how to respect cats and B) taught me that even though you only have something for a short time, that doesn't mean that that time was wasted. 
13. My health.  Yes, I have some health issues (Celiac, muscle issues...), but in general, I am a very healthy person.  I am so thankful that I am strong and resilient.
14. Pickles.  My favorite food!  I can eat pickles any time of day - they make me happy.
15. My dad's green thumb.  I have a brown thumb.  I cannot grow much of anything.  My dad, on the other hand, can take a seemingly dead plant and bring it back to life in record time.  Because my dad has a green thumb, I get lots of free veggies, squash, apples, and pears from him!
16. Thanksgiving & Christmas.  I love the holidays.  They are such a good opportunity (and reason) to go home and see my family and friends!
17. My friends.  I have the greatest group of friends!  It's small.  There are some people I've known since 1st grade, some since high school, some since college and grad school, and some from work.  They are always there whenever I need someone to talk to and can pick me up when I'm feeling crummy.
18. Time off.  Because Thanksgiving is coming up, I will have a little time off.  I am so thankful for this as I really need time to decompress and get out of town!
19. My coworkers.  I ask a lot of questions and they are super supportive.  They also help me out so, so much!
20. My car.  So materialist.  I usually only drive 1-2 times a week (walk all the rest of the time) but I am so thankful that it doesn't break down when I need it.  I felt like my last car was in the shop every month.  My little Versa is the little engine that could.
21. Reese's peanut butter cups/trees/eggs...  My favorite candy.
22. My country.  I may not always like what's going on or want to hear everyone's opinions on everything under the sun, but I am thankful that we have the opportunity to say whatever we want without punishment and we are able to vote for what we believe in.  We have freedoms that others could only dream of.  We Americans are incredibly lucky.
23. My faith.  I do not attend church on a regular basis, but I am spiritual and believe that someone is looking out for me and my family.  I feel like everything happens for a reason and am thankful for every opportunity (positive or negative) that I receive.
24. Frugality.  I don't make a lot of money but I have everything I need (not everything I want).  I think it's totally cool to not have everything I want.  It teaches me what's really important.  In these tough economic times, I am so very thankful to have the ability to provide myself with everything I need and the ability to live comfortably.

Well, that was easy!  If only Thanksgiving was later in the month...

What are you thankful for?

Motivations

Do you ever have one of those days in which you really can't get yourself to do anything, much less workout? I have those days...all the time!  The key for me is to keep some motivators in my back pocket.  Here are a few tips that I have found exceptionally helpful:

1.  If there is a particular time of day that you are more likely to workout, try to schedule time to workout then.  For me, this is anywhere between 9:30am to 1:30pm.  After that, I'm useless.  Unfortunately for me, I am usually teaching or have other obligations during that time.  Thus, I move on to the rest of my motivational list.

2.  Find a buddy.  When I'm at my parent's house, I walk with my parent's dog and my mom.  Today, I had a running buddy.  Working out when you really don't want to isn't as bad when you can focus on your buddy instead of how hard you are breathing.

3.  Do something you love.  Don't workout just because it's good for you.  For me, I hate, hate, hate being a mouse on a wheel (which is what treadmills feel like to me).  I think it's boring and I hate that I'm not going anywhere.  In the long run, you are more likely to stick with something you like and thus be healthier than if you did two weeks in the gym, got sick of it, and gave up.

4.  Find someone or something that is inspirational to you.  It could be those pants you are hoping to wear or someone who has accomplished what you are working for.  I like Ali Vincent a lot (first female winner of the Biggest Loser).  She doesn't play games, she works hard, and I see a lot of myself in her.  If you haven't yet, read Believe It, Be It, written by Vincent.  I think I've read that book three or four times.  It helps to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this stuff is hard sometimes.



5.  When everything above fails, you have come down to the final two options.  If you know your body needs a workout and just don't feel like it, give yourself a 10 minute workout.  This tip comes from the book The Go-Girl Guide: Surviving Your 20s with Savvy, Soul, and Style by Julia Borland.  My sister gave me this book when I turned 20 and, sadly, it looks like I will need to hand it off in 10 months.

The theory is that if you workout for 10 minutes, you will likely feel better and you'll finish out the workout.  The truth is, this works!  I love Jillian Michaels' workouts.  My current obsession is Jillian's Ripped in 30.  It's literally a total body workout in 34 minutes (and it's a great workout!).  After 10 minutes in front of Jillian, I always finish.

The second of the final options is to take a rest day.  A cop out?  Maybe.  It can also be exactly what you need.  If I have worked out 4 days or more in a row, especially if they are intense workouts, sometimes I just need a day off to let my muscles rest and rebuild.  I can pick up where I left off the next day.

What are your motivations?

Challenge Update

I really did not want to go for a run today!  My muscles were tired and sore.  Luckily, I had planned to run with a good friend and did not want to cancel on her.  We did not run all that far (just under 1.5 miles) and we walked the rest of the way but it was a good workout none-the-less and it was way better for me than sitting on the couch.