People are constantly asking me "What's your secret?"

Until this morning... I really didn't know how to answer the question because I wasn't completely sure what "my secret" was either! I don't think there is just one thing that has helped me lose over 100 pounds... so when people have asked me... I list the physical workouts that make up my 8-10 hours of training every week: interval running, weight training, hot yoga, fitness bootcamp and of course eating healthy. But during my run this morning... I had a completely eurphoric moment when I realized... there is something that I'm doing different then every other time I tried to lose weight in the past... I am pushing myself (instead of relying on others to push me) and always taking whichever option will require the most work.

This morning I had set the goal of randomly running for 36 minutes through the intersecting paths of Shubie Park (three 10 minute runs with three 2 minute recovery walks)... I also decided that I was going to try to not run the same path twice (to avoid knowing what to expect). I had no set path to follow, no destination to find and at every fork in the road... I would make an immediate decision which direction I wanted to head next... talk about LIVING ON THE EDGE! LOL! Everytime I reached a path intersection that gave me the option of running uphill or flat... I chose the hill! The first time I decided to take the hill... I sort of surprised myself with the decision... but then each time after that it was a no-brainer... pick the hill!

That's when I realized "my secret"... the reason why I'm successful is because I'm pushing myself to new physical limits. The "old me" probably wouldn't even be in the park... and if I was... I'd be chosing the flat easy route and walking at a snail pace... the "new me" knows that there is greater sense of satisfaction and reward by picking something more physically challenging and running it. There was one particular long hill that I knew I wanted to run up. A few years ago when I was really in unhealthy... I could barely walk up this hill (and stopped a couple times to rest on the way up)... today I ran up the entire hill like it was no sweat (though I was sweating believe me)!

It just so happens that each of my 10 minute running intervals finished 1/2 way up large hills... but instead of using the 10 minute time as an excuse to relieve my body of running the steep incline... I told myself "you can stop running when you reach the top of the hill!" I sometimes wonder if Devin and Gina implanted some mean torture trainer microchip in my brain to push me when they aren't around!

So that's my secret... always choose what will give you the most physical challenge beause when your workout is over... you'll realize... it was completely worth it!