So, here’s the problem with loving food… I LOVE FOOD. Which means that dieting is not something I enjoy. At all. Ever. Under any circumstances. I hate it. I also hate the term “diet,” it’s a word I try not to use around my children because I don’t want them to become obsessed with weight. “Healthy food choices” is the party line around here, along with “the occasional treat is okay” and “exercise is a must.” You might think daily exercise just happens for me since I’m a Pilates teacher, but the truth is that it doesn’t. I have to get motivated and schedule the time like anyone else. And it is easy to fall off the wagon.

So recently, the motivation has waned and the healthy food has given way to a more relaxed definition of what that looks like. Perhaps that extra bite of pasta wouldn’t have made a difference, but that extra bite 5 days in a row did. Actually, maybe the pasta 5 days in a row was the beginning of the problem. Whatever. All I can say is “what’s done is done,” and consign myself to heading into the holidays with a little more padding around my hips than I would like. So I need some motivation. Fast.

Enter Evil Friend. Evil Friend doesn’t mean to be evil. In fact, I believe he is actually wonderful. However, when Evil Friend, twirling his handlebar mustache and petting his hairless cat, told me how great I would look a few pounds lighter in front of Super Cute Guy, IT WAS ON. See, I may not like dieting, but I do like competition — more specifically, winning. And so, with the possibility of taking $100 out of his little hands, I have found my motivation. My love of sugar has been suppressed by my love of his money. My carb addiction replaced by my competitive nature. I’m being healthy. I have worked out 1-2 times each day this week. I am back to those healthy food choices I try to preach to my kids and others. And I feel great. I feel like me: strong and taking care of myself.

The thing is, wherever the motivation comes from, sometimes we all need that little push to do the thing we dread most. When you get it though, it stops being about why you’re doing it, and how good it feels to just do it. We all need a little push now and again, so take it when you get it, wherever you can.

I’m so grateful to Evil Friend that it may be difficult to take his money in a few weeks. Difficult, but not impossible. And so with the motivation of a lovely dinner with Super Cute Guy paid for by Evil Friend, I am off to the gym.