My Personal Challenge

Sometimes you need a blog to keep things interesting. I'm particularly horrible at motivating myself. I've kept journals, and stopped having time to complete entries or lost touch with the results of writing every day. I've had friends to push me, but I always find ways to convince myself that their opinions don't reflect what's really going on inside and that my opinion of what I can accomplish is all that matters.

Lightbulb. That's the key.

I've become an avid yogi in the last three years, and have quickly learned that nobody really cares about the progress you make in any life endeavour quite as much as you do. You can tell people about it all you want but unless YOU believe it, nobody pays attention all that much. This is why I've decided to start a new blog to chronicle my latest personal challenge.

My boyfriend's father is a small aircraft pilot in the Maldives. The first time I heard 'Maldives' I had to Google where it was. Turns out, the Maldives are an island nation in the Indian Ocean on the southwestern tip of India. His dad has been living in the capital city of Male for around 5 years and has graciously invited his three sons, my boyfriend being the eldest, to visit. The middle brother, being on exchange in Australia, was lucky enough to visit last year, and now it's time for the other two to go...and for me to tag along as the willing girlfriend. I should say that I've never been a) on a vacation with a boyfriend before, at least not one involving flying anywhere, or b) on that side of the world. This is an amazing opportunity that I'm going to grab by the balls and take major advantage of. We've been promised our scuba certification, flying over the islands, major beach time, and generally a chance to explore what might be the coolest, most beautiful, romantic place on the planet.

The realization that it was time to kick myself into gear came when my boyfriend and I were discussing the potential of losing our luggage. "What do you care? You're going to be in a bikini the whole time anyway!" ... And this brings us here. I'm a pretty healthy person. I go to the gym and yoga almost every day. I give myself the occasional day off if I have too much work or if I'm too sore/tired from a previous workout or strenuous day of work. A good yogi knows that days off are important to recharge and not obsess. I also eat rather well, although being an avid foodie and sharing this hobby with my man means that I indulge in my share of yummy treats perhaps a little too often. I have good willpower and I'm rather disciplined, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of starting a workout/diet regime and sticking to it for longer than 3 weeks or so.

I leave for the Maldives on May 1. That's 68 days from now, or roughly 9 weeks. This blog is my project to get bikini ready in time to spend 3 weeks in a bathing suit and not look back on the photos knowing I could have looked and felt better in my skin. The goal is that this blog will force me to write every day and track changes in my body.

68 days start now.