Keeping this feeling...

 I'm keeping this feeling of slight defeat, regret and a little disappointment in my workout today. The weekend was quite a test of will-power. I attended a company buffet banquet at a BBQ restaurant on Friday, visited the parentals on Saturday (where there's always an opportunity for good eats), and headed over to the Fiance's grandmother's for SuperBowl Sunday (SuperBowl Sunday food plus American grandmother's cookin' is double the temptation!)

Although I was able to workout for a bit Saturday night, I still felt a set-back during today's workout (more sluggish, tight muscles, cramping, winded). For a moment it kind of felt like I was back at square one, like my buddy Simon Pegg:

I realized it wasn't just the Friday and Sunday breaks I took from physical activity, but disorienting my eating habits altogether. Not that having an occasional french fry or ice cream is super bad, but throughout the past month I started developing a good and comfortable eating schedule and started developing some good eating habits as well; portioning out my main meals, eating snacks in between, basically eating every 2-3 hours, and not eating anything after 7:30pm every night. It's great really, and it wasn't so much of a chore or hard to keep up with. I had the right foods in my fridge and pantry, and all I had to do was grab and go when I was in a rush. I tell ya, I realized healthy foods are not so much more expensive than junk food either. A three dollar bag of chips costs the same as 3 whole cucumbers, or 1 bag of carrot sticks, or 3 pounds of bananas. And there's always something healthy on sale every week at the grocer's.

What's difficult about the beginning to this all is the lifestyle change itself. It isn't hard to keep up with now, but that first couple weeks I bought new produce I didn't know what to do with. So I improvised and did some research (thank you Lord for online recipes and WebMD!). Learned about seasonal products (since they are usually cheaper because of their abundance), and started getting involved with others who wanted to live healthier (co-workers, a Facebook Biggest Loser group, and this own final project group for grad school). I think the reason why this is becoming very effective for me is because I'm doing this with others. Giving support is, I believe is so awesome, probably more than getting the support. I love hearing success stories and improvements by others and I love encouraging and keeping up spirits. Philippians 2:3-4 says "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."

So I'm keeping this feeling of a minor defeat, but letting it help drive me towards a better tomorrow, and looking to others for inspiration, and hopefully, through this, maybe giving some inspiration as well. It's really about your own pace. Encourage others and you will be encouraged to do good as well!!

Cheers (with a glass of water!) to a healthy lifestyle!
- Quinallison