"It is easier to make excuses than changes." ~Lysa Terkeurst
Well, today is Day 1 of my ten day challenge of real food. It does make me chuckle to think 10 days. Seriously, how hard can this be?! I will let you know after I overcome my sugar withdrawal.
We have had a full weekend. The days flew by and I didn't get to the grocery store with my list for the week, so I felt a little unprepared last night. I even let the thought cross my mind that I should just start on Tuesday, but then I read the above quote from Lysa. And that is just what I was doing...making an excuse. Procrastinating.
So, I went back and read my last blog to get motivated again and remind myself of my determination to do this. When I invited others to join me on the challenge, I said "the more the merrier". When I wrote that, my first thought was actually "misery loves company", but I stopped myself from defeating myself and others before we even started! It was easy to think of the reasons I didn't want to start the challenge, but I started to think about the reasons I WANT to do the challenge and they are truly worthy reasons. Here are just a few:
1. I want energy.
2. I have too many people that depend on me in a day to run out of gas not long after I get started.
3. I have a new little one on the way and I need not only energy, but a strong body.
4. I think sugar makes me grouchy. (I will be shocked if I still get grouchy after this and then I will have no idea what the cause would be!)
5. I want to stop feeling frustrated with my choices only to turn around and choose them again.
6. I want to feel good and taking care of myself and my family definitely makes me feel good!
7. I have too much I want to do to not take care of myself.
I will have to read these more than once in the day to stay on track. I will have to ask myself what I want more...the junk that keeps me in a vicious cycle or the good things that are more lasting and meaningful to me. I think a little bit of self-doubt causes me to want to make something known....I will still eat treats from time to time, so I have not fallen off the wagon or forsaken the lifestyle when I have an ice cream cone with the fam! :) But for 10 days, I am serious!!
I also remembered something so very important as I read the last blog....perfection is not the goal. I will not do it all "right" in the next few days, but I will begin making new habits. Too many times I have given up on things because of the "all or nothing" mentality. But honestly, that mentality is so bad because who has it all or can do it all? That means there is alot of nothing going on! So today, I don't have all the ingredients for alot of the homemade recipes I wanted to try, but I do have chicken, eggs, salad, and veggies that I can use. And honestly, a trip to the store will give me a short burst of motivation, but then I will still have to fix the stuff! And I do not need one more head of lettuce in the fridge to go to waste or one more limp cucumber because I "forgot' it was in the veggie drawer. I know I am not the only one that has opened the refrigerator FULL of fresh fruits, veggies, and other goodies only to shut it and say there is nothing to eat!!
Nope, today is the day of progress! I will not rationalize why I don't really have to do this. This is not about my weight. My goodness, I am 28 weeks pregnant today so I will not be seeing the scale drop. Instead, this is about feeling good from the inside out. I have never had a weight problem. Yes, I have been in shape and out of shape and had a few extra pounds to shed, but I have never had a battle with numbers. But I have battled in other areas. I have battled feeling bad about myself. I have battled exhaustion and frustration. I have battled wanting one thing and doing another. I have battled going against what I truly want for a quick fix instead. But I will remind myself one more time, today is the day of progress!! This is not a diet. This is a new way to live. One more time, perfection is not the goal.
God, there is no part of my life that You do not want to be a part of. In Your eyes, there is no separation of spiritual and physical. We are Your creation, created in You to do great and wonderful things. But I am scared to death of failure. I fear a great start and a lousy finish. I am afraid of not finishing what I start. But Your Word says that it is You who works in me to will (the want to) and to act (really do it) according to Your good purpose. (Philippians 2:13) I pray that today You will help me to make choices that are in line with how You want me to take care of myself and my family. And although You will encourage me, You will not be sprinkling me with pixie dust or tapping my head or hands with a magic wand to make these choices for me. Help me to do the hard stuff until it's not so hard anymore. How blessed to serve and love a God that is in every part of my life! In Jesus' name.
I love the "misery loves company" part. So funny. At first I thought 10 days can't be so bad and day 2 without Mr. Pibb is making me think different...10 days is long but doable. The whole foods taste good even though my kids thought eating salad and making kale chips was an ode to eating like the Easter Bunny in preparation for Easter. I have even said "no this is not a joke" when cutting down on their fruit roll ups, little debbie snacks, pringles, sour patch kids & sweet treats they love. I am just asking them to give up one or two a day and not go without. I think your reasons are wonderful and worthy of your decision.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I was underweight which is currently not a problem. More of a problem in the opposite direction. overweight :( I realized how bad my "pop" habit was when I was pregnant with Ryleigh Anna, I went to be weighed at my 10 week visit and each month my weight would drop. I had given up Mr. Pibb for gingerale to avoid the caffeine for the baby. To make a story short when I had Ryleigh Anna at 42 weeks my total weight gain was -11pounds. I had actually gained about 30 lbs. with her but since I gave up pop I ended up loosing more than I gained while being pregnant. I was obviously pregnant and showing and she ended up weighing a healthy 8lbs. so there wasn't a concern there but I knew I didn't want anything to do with pop. Here we are 2 years later and I have gained all of that weight back since giving in to the easier choice and convenience of pop. I still can't believe I went back to drinking pop and gaining weight. Sorry for making the comment long but thank you for not giving up on us others who are so encouraged to keep with this 10 day challenge. :)
Audrea
You are so funny!! I love your story, too!! It is crazy how life happens and we are not paying attention, we fall back into old ways of doing things. I am so very proud of you for this challenge though. How were the kale chips?! I haven't tried them yet, but I have been very curious!! If you go on the 100days website, I have found several recipes that have been great. I did the granola bars, the wheat/banana pancakes, slushies with grape juice, whole wheat honey bread and the fruit kabobs (which were gone so fast!). I am trying the chicken nuggets and zuchinni chips tomorrow. I have learned a very interesting fact about myself over the last 3 days: I do not like coffee, but I love cream!! :) Since I can't put the sugary flavored cream in it, I haven't missed it at all!! The headache started today though. I guess that means I am on my way! So great to hear from you and can't wait to talk. Hope everyone your way is on the mend! Let me know how you are!
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