My New Motivation

It's well-known that my two sisters and I like to argue, fight, pick on each other, and out-do one another, all to become "MVK", or Most Valuable Kid.  Winnie, the 2nd daughter, and I are closest in age, and when we're all together we typically gang up on our youngest sister, Katie, who is six years younger than I.  I can recall many a times where Winnie and I would torment Katie, many times to tears.  When we were younger, Katie would sing tunes from "The Sound of Music" after she'd been put to bed, and Winnie and I would giggle in our shared room, then belt out, "The hills are alive!" to make fun of her.  This usually resulted in her screaming and crying, and us laughing even harder.  It makes me laugh just thinking about it now.  That's just one example of the terrible things we did to her growing up.  Now as adults, it's even worse.  There was one particular holiday where Winnie and I were merciless to Katie.  While doing dishes, Winnie said something to Katie to make her mad, Katie charged towards Winnie, and Winnie stuck her foot out, which Katie promptly ran right into and fell to the floor, clutching her stomach and crying.  To top it off, Winnie doused her with a handful of flour, which made her cry even more.  Man, was it funny.  And while I can claim that I had no part in it, my role is usually as the instigator in these types of situations.  Winnie and I got in big trouble from Dad for that.  And yes, I know that's mean.  But it makes for a great story now.

Anyway, I think that one of the main problems that Katie and I have in our loving, sisterly relationship is that we're the same person, and she feels like she needs to one-up me every chance she gets.  And she usually does.  We look alike and talk alike.  We both graduated at the top of our high school classes (she as valedictorian, I as salutatorian).  We both went to the U of I and were in the Marching Illini.  (She of course, graduated Bronze Tablet, which means she had one of the highest GPAs in her major.  I did not.)  She met and started dating her future husband, Boston, her junior year of college, just like Mitch and I did.  Boston, by the way, is the same person as Mitch - similar looks, similar family background, similar personalities.  She and Boston married one year out of college like Mitch and I.  And now, she and Boston have bought a townhouse right after they got married, just like we did.  It's actually quite scary how similar our lives are.  

One of the things that Katie is also doing like I did is putting on weight after college.  While it's really just mean, Winnie, Katie, and I have always affectionately called each other "Fatty-Fat".  Why and where it came from, I really can't remember.  See, Winnie had been the pudgy one of the group - she was stocky when she was little, and really packed on the pounds when in college.  Katie and I were always a little slimmer growing up, and made sure to not put on too much weight during school.  However, the tables have shifted - Winnie, after a few life-changing moments at ISU, got her act together and dropped a ton of weight, which she has managed to keep off for a very long time.  She looks fantastic now, and in true sisterly fashion I just hate her for it.  After Mitch and I got married, I steadily put on weight.  I blame most of it on my profession - always busy, never time to work out, blah, blah, blah.  I could give you a million excuses as to why my midsection and ass are significantly larger than they used to be.  Now that I'm nearing 30 (when did that happen?), I am becoming afraid that if I don't take care of it now, I never will.  Since we moved to MN, I have lost ten pounds.  A good start.

When talking to Katie on the phone the other day, she was complaining about how much weight she has put on since graduating from college.  While she was conscious of it for her profession - she was on TV every day - now that she has changed jobs, she has relaxed her eating and working out habits.  And it's showing.  So, as she is talking about how she's so fat, and has to get to the gym, and how she needs to do this and that, I thought of a brilliant plan.

I am one that needs some sort of motivation to make things happen.  I've been inspired in part by The Mrs.' weight-loss blog, although I am not doing so well in the weight-loss competition there.  So, I challenged Katie to an Ultimate Fatty-Fat Challenge.  

The Ultimate Fatty-Fat Challenge operates like this:  whoever loses the biggest percentage of her body weight by Christmas wins.  The loser will forever be the Ultimate Fatty-Fat.  AND, whoever loses must endure as many insults, put-downs and harassments as the other can dish out.  Mean, yes.  Effective, yes!  Now, we've kept Winnie out of the competition for two reasons - 1, she doesn't want to play, and 2, she'd definitely win.  Her willpower is incredible.  

I am determined to beat Katie.  I DO NOT want to be the Ultimate Fatty-Fat.  So, to help motivate me to work out, (and because we've been talking about buying one for a long time), Mitch and I bought a treadmill.

It's a thing of beauty.  It was delivered today by the lovely guys at Sports Authority, and it got its inaugural ride this afternoon.  This will be the tool that helps me beat Katie.  I plan on putting her picture right in front of the treadmill, pushing me to go that extra minute, that extra mile more, in order to kick her ass this Christmas.

Take that, Katie.  See you in December.