How You doin'?

I hope everyone is having a great week!  Mine's super busy with more to come, but you're not gonna here a complaint from me!  My sister and her kids are coming in this weekend and staying for a few days. 

We're dumping the kids with my parents and she & I will be having our first sister date in a long time.  I had suggested us doing a class at the gym then getting dinner and she thought that sounded like fun, but she's not sure she can handle an hour long class.  Crazy, since she gets up most every morning at 5:30 to work out before starting her day.  Yes, lack of confidence runs in our family.

The best way I've found to deal with a lack of confidence?  Beat it into submission.  Either with a great workout or a training plan that causes me to achieve great things.

Yesterday's weights class kicked my butt.  It was a class designed for more advanced people and I felt awkward and out of place.  There were moves that I couldn't do.  I don't mean couldn't do well.  Couldn't do at all.

Have you ever put a body bar on the end of a step, done a push up and while in the "down" position pulled your right knee to your right elbow?  Me either, but I was surrounded by ladies who were performing this move like it was nothing.  I couldn't even do a modified push up for this, because it makes the knee/elbow move awkward.

I got really down on myself. I kept looking into the workout mirror and seeing that circus freak from a couple years ago.  Remember me telling you about her - she looked like she was a magicians "sawed in half" trick gone wrong?  I tried to "fix" her by losing 15 pounds but she was still there just smaller and less obvious.

Before going down that road for too long (I allowed myself to stay on it for the rest of the class) I decided to jump off that path and choose a different one.

I'm a triathlete.

I'm a marathoner.

I'm a daughter of the King.

And gosh darn it people like me!

Those aren't things you can say about a fat, weak, pathetic loser. 

Taking a look at my goals for the previous week you couldn't say that about me either.  No, I'm not a loser in the weight department either, but that's okay too.  I tried to do each of the following this past week:

Read my Bible daily

Did this 7/7 days.  Some days were just a few verses studying my Sunday school lesson.  Other days included doing my chapter reading for my read the Bible through in a two years plan.

30 Minutes Daily Reading
Recreational Reading - At least 1 chapter a day

30 minutes is asking a lot, considering I only have 4 hours from the time I get home from work until the time I go to bed to fix/eat/clean up dinner, do chores, and have time to decompress with my darling love.  I've changed the goal to make it more realistic

64 oz Water Daily

I met this goal 6/7 days (only getting in 56 oz on the 7th day).  Two days I actually reached 80 oz!  I've also committed to not drinking any of the water drink mixes with aspartame.  I have a few left over, but once those are gone I'm not buying more.  The kind with stevia are a little more expensive, but worth it health wise in the long run.

Eat 3 or more Fruits & Veggies

Hit this 4/7 days.  This is really a struggle for me, but that just means I made a good choice in making it a goal.  The "miss" days were days I ate out for lunch (two planned, one unplanned).  One thing I'd like to start doing is eating less on planned eating out days.  I normally skip morning and afternoon snack on those days so that I'll have more calories for lunch.  Instead I think I should keep those calories and just order less when I go out.

Exercise

I hit this one every day, although some days were less intense than others.  Saturday I just completed the push ups, but I'm good with that.  I spent the rest of my day cleaning and my evening enjoying time with my parents and grandparents. 

I did so well with these goals, I'm wondering if they'll be mastered well before this challenge is over.  If so I'd like to up the ante, but I don't think its quite time for that yet.  Looking forward to another week of it!



As for my Lent give up/add plan?  Its not going so hot.  I caved last Thursday to the headache/fatigue and had a coke (with my burger and fries).  Since then though I've not had a single carbonated beverages, with the headache to prove it. 

That's 6 days!! 

To you that might not seem like a lot, but that's better than I've done in the past.  The fatigue has mostly gone away, which makes it a lot easier. 

Praying before every meal?  The only time this has occurred as it should have was last night over dinner, when our hostess asked if it was okay if her husband prayed before we ate.  God is good!  Earlier in the afternoon I was worried about my solo prayer being awkward. 

Most of the time I get half way through and remember.  Or get all the way through and remember.  The important part is that I'm pausing to give thanks.  Even if the food is already in my bell.

So how you doin' this week?  If you are observing Lent, are you struggling?  Those of you shrinkers how are things treating you?