Living & Active Challenge: Final Week Recap

Last week was the fifth and final week of Peak 313's Living and Active Challenge. I have to admit that I'm a bit sad to see the challenge come to an end, as I've found the accountability (especially through blogging my weekly challenge recap) has been particularly helpful. I usually am a bit more disciplined when I know I'm going to have to report (and sometimes confess) to somebody.

Week five was indeed a challenge. Coming off of my beach vacation, I allowed myself one extra sleep-in day on Tuesday but got back to exercising that night, and went to boot camp Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings and worked out with co-workers Thursday night. I also mowed my grass when I got home from work on Friday, which I think totally counts as a workout.

On the weekend, however, I was pretty much a total slacker. After so many Saturdays of getting up pre-dawn to walk with my friends who were training for a half-marathon, it was a nice break to sleep in at home on Saturday. But by Sunday my body was feeling the results of not working out the day before--I felt sluggish and ultra lazy.

Another slacker area--my food journaling. I was good about using My Fitness Pal during the week, but during the weekend I didn't record anything. I also had a major moment of weakness at Target on Saturday and bought some Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses and some Caramel Apple Milky Ways. Sure, it's easy to justify buying them by saying that they're only available for a limited time, but they're still dangerous little candies to have around. Stopping at just one little Kiss or one mini Milky Way is a giant test of will that I, sadly, keep failing at.

Given my struggle with the Halloween candy, it was refreshing and encouraging to read Clare's post this week about her Nutty Bar binge. I can definitely second her statement about eating like junk and performing like junk. After way too much sugar and not enough exercise this weekend, I was really feeling it at this morning's boot camp. Particularly when we were running, I felt like my legs were stiff and moving through quicksand. I hate feeling that way, and I am optimistic that feeling so slow this morning will motivate me to get up and work out tomorrow. I did go for a walk tonight after work so am glad that I'm already getting back into my regular workout routine.

The last couple of weeks of this challenge have been the toughest, mainly due to having my schedule a bit out of whack. I went grocery shopping tonight and have some healthy recipes already in my lineup for the week. I'm planning on dragging myself out of bed early tomorrow and do the Couch to 5K run since it's one of my non-boot camp days. And yes, I'm recommitting to recording everything that I eat, including those ever-so-tempting candies.

Most of all, I'm encouraged by the many reminders of God's grace to me throughout my life. As I struggled to keep my legs moving at boot camp this morning on our run, a couple of thoughts came to mind. First, Philippians 4:13--"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Then the lyrics to one of my favorite old devotional songs came to me--"You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my all in all." On my own, I am lazy, undisciplined and weak. I can ONLY do what I've been doing, health-wise, because of Christ's strength at work in me. I'm thanking God that I don't have to do this alone, and thankful that I can share my journey--including my struggles--with all of you.