Too Many Excuses...to be fat...

So my goal for the week was pretty simple. Cut back my out of control coffee consumption and diet soda consumption while increasing my water intake. Should have been so simple to do.

And yet this week has been very atypical. My three school-aged children who should have been at school all day all week have only had one day of school this week due to weather concerns. And I haven't been sleeping well. We walk a finely balanced timeline around here because DH works graveyard shift, we have children attending school, and we have an infant. This week, my schedule is completely out of whack due to the school closures and I'm beat. I'm fighting a cold. I soooo tired.

So I drank more coffee yesterday and took a two hour morning nap with the baby. Then later in the day I craved my soda. I had two cans. I had two cans the night before also. So I did great on Tuesday morning, drinking less coffee but destroyed the day by drinking two sodas before bed. And yesterday I blew completely out of the water by having coffee in the afternoon and two sodas.

Here is what I know about excuses--they don't achieve anything. Excuses are the walls we build between ourselves and our goals, versus circumstances which are mountains that exist between us and our goals. What's the difference? Mountains were created by something other than ourselves. They can be climbed, defeated, and crossed. Walls are our own creation. They are far too difficult to climb over without lots of extra gear, and I can't walk through them (perhaps you can?). The more excuses we make, I equate with adding grease to the side of the wall. It makes it even more difficult to overcome that wall.

But the amazing thing about excuses/walls is that since we create them, we have the control to NOT build them. Excuses represent a choice we can make.

Perhaps this sounds preachy. That wasn't the intent really. No, the point was to remind myself of these things. See, I know that above I listed out "excuses" for why I failed to make the choices that would make me successful. I made the choice drink more coffee than I should have. I had a choice. I made a bad one. No excuse. I was weak and messed up.

I can choose to continue making bad choices because I've already messed up. But that makes the wall taller. Instead, I am going to choose to turn off the coffeepot and pour out the rest of the coffee (oh, I did start brewing only a small part of the pot each day because I know that if it's there I will drink it). I am going to fill a cup with ice and water. And I'm going to feel better because of it.

Why?

Because I will know I was successful today.

Because I will have less caffeine in my system to keep me from sleeping well tonight.

Because my body will begin to clean out the toxins by flushing it with water.

How are you doing? Check in!