Seriously...no more excuses

I am SOOOO thankful Week 7 is over! I'm not sure how it happened or why I allowed it to happen but that is a week I don't want to do over.....ever. Nutrition was a struggle and wow...I did not work out ALL week! What was that about? As I've reflected on it, I have come up with a list of excuses. A couple of them pretty valid reasons, but in my opinion, excuses nonetheless. So I spent the week in the midst of my 'comfort zone' of a few fall back foods, not working out and feeling grossly guilty about it all. Have I learned nothing? Really?

Routines are going to change, challenges are going to come up, I'm not always going to 'feel' 100%.  Last week it was like I let every little thing get in the way. For example, I have struggled with getting out in the early morning in the dark for aerobics. So, I told myself, I'll do it in the evening. Well, the evening didn't work cause by the time I get home from work, dinner, etc, its dark again. Hmmm. That turned out to be not so great a plan. Bootcamp....alarm didn't get set? turned off the snooze? who knows for sure. Did I do the strength workout in the evening then, since I overslept in the a.m.? NO. I didn't push through any of it last week. Grrrrrrrrrr!

So now ....am I going to allow that really crappy week to derail me completely? NO. Because I can't. I've come too far in this journey this time. Am I going to figure out how to use it to motivate me forward? Absolutely. Thankfully I met with my fellow BTWGers for our Saturday session. I found it interesting that several of us had struggled last week. All for different reasons, but maybe the same. But that's a huge part of this program is the community aspect of it so it was good to connect with everyone.  The topic this week was about being mindful. Don't just go through the automatic motions of our daily life. Think about it. Consider it. Ponder its origin, its value. It's funny. I've read about this teaching. I've been trying to practice it throughout the program but have certainly not given it the full time and attention it deserves. As Chris walked us through the exercises, I admitted to myself that I had not invested fully in this aspect of the program at all. Probably part of it is because its outside my comfort zone. Hmmmmmm....comfort zone. Hasn't served me too well so far.....so why I do I keep going back there?

I believe that nothing happens by accident so as I walk through this gift from God, it's times like these that I think is all exactly what I need to hear & experience, at this point in time. I know the behaviors of old that I fell into last week all too well.....so thankful for being back and track and moving forward!

My goals this week include: 1) disregard Week 8 recovery week (with Chris' blessing) to get my workouts back on track. Obviously my 'recovery' occured last week. :-)   2) practice being mindful more intentionally  3) eat clean...all week.  4) embrace pushing myself outside my comfort zone -- I'm certain its way better on the other side! :-)

Philippians 3:12-14 (ESV)
"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."