Work It, Girl!

Ever since we moved to Austria, I have come to the realization that I am not as fit as I should or could be. People here in Salzburg (and in Europe in general) are very sporty and thin. When I look out my window I always see people biking, walking, running, hiking, climbing, rollerblading, etc. I still don't understand how they are so thin after all the schnitzel, spaetzle, potatoes, and beer but I'm pretty sure their active lifestyle has something to do with it.

Jason and I have always been active but since we were just in the US, we both gained some weight. This always happens because we always stuff our faces with all the foods we crave while we are home. Jason loves Mexican food, beer, and pizza (pretty much anything BUT fruits and veggies) and I love Chick-Fil-A, BBQ, and desserts. This is not good!

Upon our arrival back to Salzburg we were discussing how we always gain weight when we go back "home" and that we really needed to do something about it. So, since we are off to Egypt in 8 days we decided last week that we would make a bet as to who can lose the most weight (approx. 10 lbs.) before we leave next Thursday. It has already been 9 days and I am winning (not by much). We have been writing our weight on the bathroom mirror every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I must say that looking at that darn number every day is pretty much motavation in itself besides just wanting to beat each other. The winner of our little bet gets to pick a day in Egypt to do what he or she wants to do for the day (if I win we are going to do a couple's massage day at the spa and if Jason wins we will do an extra day of diving). Either way, we are both still winning but it is just a fun little way to be competitive.

Two tools that I have been using to help me out with my weight loss are apps on my iPhone. The first is Runmeter. I just love it! It keeps track of my time, distance, speed, calories (approx.) and puts it all on a calendar for me so I can see how much I have been running, biking, etc. Then, I use MyFitnessPal to keep track of my calorie burn and intake.

So far, we have both shed a few pounds. I'll keep you posted on who wins and what the total amount of weight loss is for both of us. I know that 10 lbs. is hard to achieve in 17 days so just keep in mind that it may not be that much by next Thursday. Of course, we will keep this up even after we get back from Egypt since it is diffucult to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time while remaining healthy.

So for now I am just telling myself: Lauren, you better work it girl!!

xx