I Can't, Won't and Don't Want To Do It For You

Let's face it, most people are lazy. That's it - flat out lazy. While there is the percentage of the population out there who have valid reasons and problems as to why they can't eat better or workout, the majority of people are lazy and/or just making excuses. Someone who spends half their time watching television, playing video games and going to the bar - then turns around and says they don't have time to workout is making excuses. You have time, you're just not devoting it to a workout and you're not fooling anyone. A single mom who works two full time jobs just to keep food on the table and clothes on her kids' backs who has just enough time to get home and fix them dinner, sleep for a few hours just to wake up and get them ready for another day - SHE has no time to workout.

Let's be clear - people who make fitness and health a priority in their life do it on purpose. They MAKE the time to workout, they spend their money on healthy things instead of junk which is how they can afford it. They don't waste time sitting around playing in virtual reality for hours at a time while consuming thousands of calories. People who make fitness a priority fight mini battles every day. You think I don't want pizza and brownies all the time? You think that given the chance I wouldn't eat Chinese food all day long? If it were possible to LIVE off of french fries and chocolate with no health side effects, there's no question that that's the life I'd be living. But I don't do any of that. I've made a decision that being fit is more important to me than any of these things. That doesn't mean the desire to eat bad things goes away. On the contrary, it's a little voice inside me that I have to argue with daily. Eating french fries every once in a while? Yeah, sure - I'm ok with that personally. Eating them every day? That's basically daring God to give you a heart attack or heart disease.

I'm always happy to help others find their way in fitness. It can be a big, strange, confusing world for anyone who isn't used to living this way. I get it. So I'll always give you tips, pointers and step-by-step guides on how to get involved. I will answer any questions that come up, help you understand why what you're doing matters and make lots of suggestions to help you find a way to get fitter and even like what you're doing. I can be your sounding board, an ear to listen and a voice of reason.

What I can't, won't and surely do not want to do is do it for you.

I can't even count the number of people who have asked for help, received it - and then done NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. Made no changes to their lifestyle whatsoever, not even the small ones. Yet they will continue to feel bad about themselves and complain. Where did people get this notion that they could sit back and let someone else do the work for them to benefit from? Who even takes pride in that? Everyone wants a magic pill or a miracle to make them be able to keep doing the same thing they're doing, yet SOMEHOW magically lose weight by changing nothing. Are you serious? Do you understand the amount of effort that I have to put into my fitness daily? Why would I do that two-fold for you even if that were possible?

Why is it that working for something is no longer valued? Our country is built on the principles of bravery and fighting for what you want. Where did that go? Why are so many so unwilling to put forth a little effort to get what they say they want?

I don't know the answers and I can't understand that mindset. I've always been the kind of person to go after what she wants and if you don't get it - SO WHAT - at least you tried. And at least you know you tried. Which is better than failing as a result of making no effort whatsoever. I'd rather do my best and make my best effort and take pride in knowing that I'm doing all I can. I certainly don't sit on the sidelines and wish, hope and pray that someone else will do it for me - because guess what? They won't.

You can do it, and I can help you - but I refuse to do it for you.

xoxo,
 Sweet C

I'm Only Human

I can be a bit of an emotional eater at times. For me, controlling my eating is similar to how I control my emotions. I try not to get bent out of shape over small things. I allow myself to be upset for a little bit - and then I move past it. I also try not to react with a bad attitude to most things and try to calmly think things through and look at the positive side. But after a while of doing this, I always have a breaking point. There's always a moment where I get tired of being rational and just need to let it out in the form of crying or yelling. But usually crying.

I'm in the same boat with cheating on my diet. For the most part, I can talk myself out of straying from eating the right things. But after a certain amount of times talking myself out of it and a certain number of issues arising in my life - I lose it and eat something that is not-so-diet friendly. This week, I was beyond frustrated with my computer. Technology and I already are not the best of friends. If you glance at the previous post, I have a 30 day video series to send to my subscribers. Well, both my webcam and editing software decided that they no longer wanted to be civil to me at all and stopped being cooperative. After the first 24 hours of trying to edit a video to no avail - I hit my first breaking point with the crying. After the following 24 hours (we're at 48 total now) I hit my second breaking point of carbs. Then finally, after 72 hours ~ I absolutely decided that I deserved chocolate. I mean, seriously you have no idea how many times I had to watch myself on video saying the same thing over and over and over to re-edit the same video. I like me, but c'mon.

So, what's my reaction to my carb and chocolate cheats? What would YOUR reaction be? I know a lot of people beat themselves up over this kind of thing and allow it to lead to a downward slope of eating badly for days and feeling down on themselves. That's completely pointless. Yes - I ate some things I shouldn't have. Yes - I skipped a couple of workouts to be glued to my computer and trying to fix this problem for 3 days straight. No - I am not going to make myself feel bad for it. It's called LIFE and it happens. No one is spot on with their diet and workout routine every single second of every single day. Do I wish I would have handled things differently? Absolutely, but it's something I can learn from. I can know that next time - I can't let what's  important to me suffer because of something else that's important to me. It has to be in balance. I got my chocolate and carb fix and I will try to at least balance it out with some extra workouts this week. Not the same as eating clean, but it will make me feel a little better.

I'm only human, and sometimes - I need chocolate. It's not the end of the world and I'm not going to gain 5lbs. tomorrow. I also don't have to let it be the beginning of a llloooonnnggg eating binge. It was one day and one bar of chocolate. And now it's done. I'm moving forward. Allowing yourself to make mistakes and committing yourself to learning from them is all a part of the process.

"Into Each Life

some rain must fall. Some days must be dark and dreary."
The Rainy Day, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


This was the quote I had printed with my Senior Portrait in my yearbook 11 years ago. It still holds true and still means to me now what it meant then. Obviously, not much in my life has changed. I remember someone commenting on how depressing the quote was and remember being surprised by them feeling that way. Depressing? That wasn't how I meant it at all. It's a fact of life. If calling it to your attention is depressing, you must live a very happy, blessed and trouble-free life. Some days must be dark and dreary. Not every single day of your life will be perfect. Sometimes, bad things happen that make you sad. Fact. If anything, I found it to be a hopeful statement. If you take the quote in the context of the poem it was written in, it's making a universal statement. The line that precedes this famous quote is "Thy fate is the common fate of all." Basically saying that - you know what, you're having a bad day. Everybody has bad days sometimes and it's o.k.

I'm having one of those days today. Everything seems to have been going to crap for me since I woke up - late, this morning. I keep trying to stay positive and move on, but with every positive thought comes another negative thing happening in my day. I'm just not strong enough to shoulder all of the outside forces affecting my reality. It's too much.

What I really want to do is eat a big bowl of ice cream and chocolate and peanut butter and lay in bed and cry and watch movies. And add popcorn while you're at it. In reality, would one day of binging on sweets completely kill my diet? Well, speaking long term - no. Would eating and watching movies do anything to help my mood? MMM, it might - but then again it might not. Would it fix any of the problems that are causing my terrible day? No. But will sticking to my diet and working out fix any of those problems either? No. It's kind of a draw there.

I'm having a horrible day. And I really want to make myself feel better with dairy and chocolate and salt. But I have the presence of mind to know that those things ultimately won't make me feel better. Or will only do so temporarily. And that though unconnected to my current state of mind and my current issues, sticking to my diet and working out today will be better for me in the long run. I'll be happy at the end of the week that I stayed the course, even if I may not feel like it today.

I certainly hope tomorrow is a better day for me.