Day 15 - Flexing the Self Control Muscles

Motivational Quote: Once you establish an aggressive mental attitude, you can turn your attention to correct technique. ~Tony Gwynn

Today was nothing but a mental game all day. It seems I had to power through every moment. What could go wrong, did. I had two options: overreact or keep my cool. Happily, I kept my cool. I found it easy to soften my tone, keep my pace and not allow circumstances to disturb my peace. Personally, this is out of the ordinary for me. Usually I am biting heads off (especially Jason's), rushing around like a maniac and stressing out the entire family. I have been working on this for a long time with limited success. It is remarkable for me to be able to show such restraint but I am noticing it has been happening in other areas of my life. I am controlling my inner cravings six days a week. This has never been done before. I always cheated on diets. Always. There was always the excuse "just this once" or "I have been doing so good." Now that I am able to control my diet, I am beginning to control my emotions as well. I wonder if there is a connection. Maybe I am creating an aggressive mental attitude and everything else will just fall into place? We shall see.

While yesterday my body seemed to have tolerated our meals, this morning it let me know it didn't. (I think the steak and gelato put me over the edge) This morning was rough! Ian woke up again with a wet diaper and clothes at 4:30. Thankfully he went back to sleep okay but between him and the bathroom, I couldn't get to my workout until after 5. I was really happy it was cardio day. I needed a quick workout as I was dragging some serious butt this morning.

I pushed myself through the workout. Even though I felt that I only wanted to give 50%, I gave 100%.  The last two minutes are killer! When the minute came for the 10, oh it took EVERYTHING I had to give it my all. My brain was screaming "oh, can't we stop??? PLEASE???" I shut my eyes and chanted "10, 10, 10, come on Carey give it your all!" Before I knew it the minute was over (I swear it was the longest 60 seconds of my life) and I was able to cool down. It is during these workouts that I especially appreciate that we have our gym in the garage. I imagine I would have attracted a lot of weird looks after I finished that one. I also might not of given so much of myself to finish, I might have called it quits. Who knows! Jason was super sweet and cheered me on the final minute and gave me a big kiss afterwards. He is such a great teammate.

I noticed during his workout that he had bad form when the weights got too heavy. I told him to drop the weight and he said no. He said in his experience he hasn't been able to realize progress when he does that. I hadn't thought of that. I felt bad I couldn't spot him, that is what he needs. Anyone with an opinion on that?

This morning we had eggs cooked with onions and peppers, one tortilla and coffee. Stark difference from yesterday. While I hate paying for it, cheat day is really delicious.

Morning snack at 10:30 was a vanilla shake and two strawberries.

Lunch was leftover chicken fajitas, one tortilla and some lettuce. It was really good but I wanted more!

We had an appointment in Tucson and my afternoon snack was missed. I was absolutely starved by the time dinner came. We decided to stop off at Boston Market for some rotisserie chicken. I figured it was the safest bet as far as fast food goes. We get there and everything looks really good. I love their cornbread. We order a ¼ chicken with mixed vegetables and roasted potatoes. We needed a carb and the potatoes were the healthiest option. They did taste like they had butter on them but there wasn't much we could do. I only ate a small portion of the potatoes, all of my veggies and ½ of my chicken (it was bigger than I thought it would be). To our surprise we were blessed with three cornbreads. How nice. I gave some to my son Ian and we threw the rest away. That was a bummer because I really, really love their cornbread. That took a lot for me to not even want to steal a bite. Super proud of my self-control.

For my evening snack I wasn't in the mood for my usual shake. I opted for a small plate of cooked pinto beans and ½ grapefruit. Interesting combination but it was delicious.

The three things I did really well today:

1.      Exercised self control when facing temptation;

2.      Drank 10 glasses of water; and

3.      Pushed it to my limits on my cardio workout.

The one thing I am doing better tomorrow:

1.      Preplan. I am still not preparing well enough for tomorrow. Too many surprises resulting in delays.