What motivates you?

What motivates me?  Food.  I used to say this half-jokingly, but recently I've come to realize - it's completely true.  Food is a major motivating factor is basically everything I do.  As my Grandpa Baker says "Us Bakers are always thinking about our next meal." 

Friends and colleagues of mine always tell me how impressed they are that I work out so much.  I'll be honest, part of it was finding a form of exercise that I really enjoy.  Gymnastics was something I always wanted to do as a child, but for various reasons never did aside for 6 months in kindergarten.  About a year and a half ago, I found an adult gymnastics class and was basically hooked.  Furthermore I found that supplementing the technical skills with strength and endurance training, I got better!  So yes, I go to the gymnastics gym twice a week.  I also go to a regular gym about twice a week to jog or lift weights.  Cool story, bro.

Lots of people will say, "you have to find something you love," or "it helps to have a workout buddy."  And while yes, both of those things are true, it also helps to have motivation.  Such as, "If I go to the gym, I can have a bacon cheeseburger, fried cheese curds, and ice cream for dinner."  People laugh when I tell them this, but they don't realize just how serious I am. 

Denying yourself the things you love is not healthy.  And if you love food, then who's to say you can't enjoy that?  Now, I don't eat cheeseburgers all the time.  I have a carefully structured diet plan.  I call it the Two-Thirds Rule.  Ready?  It's pretty complex....

As long as I'm eating healthy for two-thirds of my meals, I allow myself to eat the things I crave for that last third.  Also - MOVE.  Walk, bike ride, run, lift weights, dance, gymnastics, whatever it takes to get you moving for 30-60 minutes 3-5 times a week. 

That's it.  That's truly it.  Some days my husband and I will ride our bikes to dinner.  We'll choose somewhere that's a couple of miles away so we don't feel bad about eating out for dinner because we had to work to get there. 

What's amusing to me is realizing that good food has been a motivator for me all my life.  When I accepted my current position in the Library, I requested a start date 3 weeks in the future.  My previous job was a check-in clerk at a clinic, so the two week standard would have been sufficient.  I said I wanted to give three weeks notice so they would have more time to fill my position because we were really busy at that time...while that wasn't entirely untrue, it wasn't the real reason either.  There was an annual company breakfast in 2.5 weeks and I wanted the free bacon. 

Going back even further, when I was probably 6 years old the daycare I attended had some sort of 8 week challenge.  The details are fuzzy, but basically it was for 8 weeks you have to try a new food each week.  If you try all 8 new foods, you get a giant cookie at the end.  I wanted that giant cookie.  REALLY BAD.  I loved chocolate chip cookies, and everybody knows giant cookies are only made from the best chocolate chip cookie dough.  I was also a very picky eater.  But I gagged my way through 8 new, foreign foods.  If I remember correctly, my body actually rejected one of the items.  It might have been cucumber or brussel sprouts, I don't remember.  Luckily I got points for TRYING.  And at the end of the 8 weeks, I got my cookie.

So yes, find something you love and pursue your passion.  My passion happens to be food.