Excuses are Easy, Resolve is Rewarding

Today started off a bit on the unexpected side. Well, not totally unexpected, but not what I was hoping for. After waking up, getting dressed in my gym wear, downing my pre-workout NO Xplode shake (which, for the record, works well but tastes nasty in lemonade flavor), and being pumped to keep rolling with my "better habits" motivation....found a sick, super congested, coughing baby girl in her crib when I went to get her up. *sigh* My poor girl!! She has been battling off and on congestion for a few weeks. Without fail, 2 days a week she is snotty and fussy. We do the humidifier, saline spray, sucking the junk out, juice/fluids bit and then she is fine and back to normal. Only for it to return a week later. Well. Hmmmm? What to do? I can tell you what I did would have done in the past few weeks - use it as an excuse to not be able to get in my workout and laze around and boredom snack all day. Easy, peasy, right???


NO!!!! Well, yes. It would be easy. No, I would not have been happy and would have felt disappointed in myself for taking the easy way out. Now, now, now. Don't fret. I did not pack up my sick baby and head to the gym anyways to pass germs to other innocent children. I snuggled and played with my happy, albeit sick, sweetheart. Then, when she went down for her nap, I headed down to the basement and did some cardio. I pulled out an old Cathe DVD I haven't done in quite some time - IMAX 2. This workout totally and completely kicked my butt....and sent my heart racing. It's 10 step intervals with lots of plyometric drills. It was fun, effective, and passed by super fast. See a clip and description of the workout HERE.

After that, Makenzie & I had lunch and put on some music to dance around the living room. That girl loves to shake her booty. She quite likes the Black Eyed Peas song "Boom Boom Boom" (not sure if that's the right name). During her afternoon nap, I did a bit more reading, chatted online with a good friend, and did my daily devotional Bible reading. You would think the day would die down there, huh?

NOPE! Once hubs got home, I was off to the gym. That's right. My workout plan was to do legs and some cardio today. I am a determined lady right now and had to get my leg session in dagnabit. Can I just say how happy I am that I did? WOW! I killed, I mean killed, my legs. I got my squat weight back up. I was shaking at the end. And all with a much shorter and effective workout. After that, it was home to gobble up some dinner (steamed chicken spring rolls, sugar snap peas) and type this up while chilling on the couch. Another rewarding day, thanks to my resolve. Here's to day 3!

RECAP - DAY 3
Training = Legs
*warm up first*
1) BB Squat - 95# x15, 115# x10, 125# x8 x2sets, 135# (!!!!) x7, 135# x5
2) Bulgarian Split Squat - 20's x 12 x 2sets, 25's x 10, 30's x 8
3A) Walking Lunge w/ Pulses @ Bottom - 20's x 10/leg x 3sets
3B) Leg Extension - 85# x 10 x 3sets

Cardio = Cathe IMAX 2 DVD

Diet = Healthy, balanced, and delicious
Water = 4 Liters + a cup of decaf peppermint tea I'm about to enjoy

Time with God = Prayer time and Bible time. I can definitely tell a difference in my approach to situations, happiness, life in general with more focused time spent with God. I would like to extend this part of my challenge to others as well. Even just 15 minutes of time spent with God is amazing and refreshing. And if that's not in your beliefs, then meditation or something similar could work for you :) Do you take time for daily prayer or meditation? Does it make a difference for YOU?

Refocusing

Good morning all! I firstly want to thank you wonderful women for all the support :) It truly means a lot. And while I know the cereal won't kill my progress (as was visible this morning when I could still see all my abs ;) hehe), the thing that concerned me the most is that I was blindly eating and more than I knew was necessary (we are talking a BIG bowl here, with 2nds of that monster to follow). The way I was eating reminded me of how I felt and ate when I used to binge. The amount may have been MUCH less, but still the attitude and approach and thought processes that went into it are what scared the (you know what) out of me. I have not done something so self-sabotaging in so long. Even in times this past year I have eaten a bit more than I should have or eaten something extra/"off-plan" it was never in such a secretive, guilty, spiteful, negative manner. I do NOT want to go back there. I REFUSE to go back there. 


So, what now? I realized a few things yesterday after sharing what happened with Peter and talking out my thoughts, hurts, etc. with him. The past couple of months I have been very driven by this competition. No one can deny that planning the food, organizing the details, getting the workouts in, taking time to practice posing/research online/etc etc etc takes a lot out of a person. Despite all that, I have not let this all get in the way of my responsibilities as a wife and mother. Peter says that he doesn't see a difference in attitude or how I treat him, he doesn't see an excessive change in my time with him and M, and overall doesn't notice a change in those general aspects of my life. But deep down, I knew something wasn't right. I knew something wasn't aligned right with my life. And when taking a closer look - it hit me smack hard across the face that what I claim is the most valuable part of my life is what was slipping into the very spare moments I could grab in a day instead of the focus of my day. My relationship with God - my faith. 


Now to some that may seem cheesy or superficial. But I can't ignore the fact that every tough time in my life I was only able to come through it by putting it in God's hands and turning my focus back to Him. From small things such as stresses of school or work, to big things like a changing relationship with my father, He has been the only true help I could count on and that would suddenly help everything seem right and manageable. I have to get that part of my life in order so that I can get through the remainder of prep. Otherwise I very well could end up back in a very dark place, which would in the process be spitting in God's face after He has already helped me out of said "dark place". So here goes - 


God, 
50 days left in this prep. 50. That's it. Right here, right now, I recommit these next 50 days to spending more time growing my faith and getting back to my solid habits that sustain me there. I put my focus on YOU the next 50 days, knowing that by doing so I will make it to that stage fulfilled, happy, with more to my life than pride. These next 50 days will be a whole lot less about me me me and what I can do and whole lot more about YOU and knowing it is only through YOUR will, support, and guidance that I can do anything. I am going to try refocusing how I look at each day. I will begin each day a few minutes earlier so I can have some time to be with You in prayer and get my thoughts aligned with You for the day. I will pray before workouts, before meals, at night after devotional reading with Peter, all day - every chance I get. After all - we are commanded to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I will turn my radio to 104.7 (sidenote to readers: the popular Christian station - and no it isn't all gospely crazy music like you may think - I actually enjoy this music a LOT and its my 1st preprogrammed station anyways - even if I have found myself slipping off it more recently). I will focus more on the lessons I prepare for each Sunday's lesson, instead of just going through the motions to get it done. I give these next 50 days to You, God. Help me use them as a way to honor You. And knowing your great love for me, that You will bless me and honor me in return by putting me on that stage on November 7th strong, confident, happy, and beaming with the love you have for me. 
Love, your daughter, 
Christina


This may seem tedious to some, but I can guarantee you that if you gave realigning your focus a shot, once you got into the habit it would be seamless and so incredibly worth it. That is the truth for me and that is what I must do now. 50 Days. It's a gift. I must use it wisely. Which even includes resting my back today ;)