Vanilla cream filled cupcakes!!

Okay, so what does that have to do with my eating and exercise plans? It is my latest reward!! And I've decided today, to share that reward structure with you.

I sort of have two reward systems going. One is tied to weightloss. These rewards are things like, a new bathing suit, an entry into a race, a new shirt to run in. Basically, gear. The other system is tied to exercise. Basically, I decided in August, that if I exercised every day until the Melissa's race in Banff, we'd go and eat at the Bison. This is my favourite restaurant. It was so worth every workout that I did. So, for the next month, I decided if I exercised every day, I would have a treat from the Avenue Cakery and Bake Shoppe in Airdrie. And today, we went there and the treats were purchased (at half price too on Saturday afternoon, yay for good deals!!). I went home and did a run, so that every day in October was full. Okay, I know there is still one more day in October, but I know tomorrow I will do something!! And really, on my chart, the reward day was today!! Which, coincidently was day 77... that's eleven weeks in a row of doing some sort of exercise every single day. So, is it a habit yet? I sure hope so!!

I love that for the past eleven weeks, I have had no excuses for not exercising. I have to of course, thank my husband for that. He is awesome to make sure I fit it in and I hope I'm giving him the time he needs as well. I've also been using my work lunch hours to help with that. No more tv, no more eating out, just pure old fashioned exercise. And, it's been great. I have gone running with a variety of people from my workplace. It's great!! We get outside, get some fresh air, and run. Truly awesome!! And, I'm getting to know some people I might not otherwise have gotten the chance to know (including one girl who is super fast and ran Boston this year only cause she qualified at her first ever marathon and figured she might as well!!). I hope the trend continues, and I still find the time to exercise every day. Sometimes with my husband, sometimes with my boys, sometimes with work friends, and sometimes on my own!! And I hope it continues to be varied in nature. So far it's included running, biking, swimming, hiking, weights, walking and even a ball/band routine. I am very aware of my body these days and trying to avoid injuries so figure the variety can only help with that!!

So there you have it. Today was exercise reward day. Next up will be weight reward day when I finally get a new bathing suit, because the one I am using now is old and slowly getting to a point where it really needs replacing. But, it will be exciting to get a new one, since it will definitely be smaller than the last one was (since it is actually baggy now!!). Stay tuned!!