Day 1

"Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect." -Alan Cohen

Yesterday marked quite the beginning for me.  As the first day of Challenge Erie, I began my own 10 week journey towards wellness.  It is one of those things I always said I should do, focus on me, yet never did.

Up until now, I was really good a finding excuses.  First, I had a newborn, I didn't have time to bathe let alone focus on my eating and exercise.  I told myself that if I did it before my wedding, I could do it again and didn't need to make it immediate.

Once M grew a bit, I found new excuses.  I was going back to school.  Between working, being a mom, AND being a student.  I certainly didn't have the time for being healthy!

After I started classes and got used to how busy I was, I just found more excuses.  The holidays, upcoming events, other people.  For three and a half years I waited for the "perfect conditions" and instead just made excuses, until yesterday.

Starting Challenge Erie just marked another milestone in my journey.  Although I have been working out with Team Adrenaline for a couple weeks now, starting the challenge is giving me the perfect change to focus on more than just exercise....I get to focus on me.  (And I can assure you, the conditions now are less than perfect!)

To kick it off, we spent the morning at a ropes course.  It was a fantastic way to get to know all of the other people involved.  Here I was, flying down a zipline, being caught by people I barely new.  Although normally being in that close of proximity with strangers would make me nervous, I knew everyone else was going through the same thing.  I could be comfortable, and nobody would judge.

After looking through the binder of information we were given for the Challenge, my first step was to choose what type of nutrition plan I was going to follow.  I wouldn't say that I've ever eatten "bad,"  I'm just not the healthiest all the time.  With that in mind, I decided to go for it and eliminate sugar from my diet.  Anyone who knows me, knows that this is going to be a HUGE challenge for me.  Still, I figured that this was my opportunity to make a big change and have the support and encouragement needed to do it.  Even if I failed, I could still say I tried.

So Day 1 and no sugar, I began to think I was crazy.  Still, as I write this at the end of Day 2, I'm surprised.  I haven't melted, gone into shock, or turned into dust.   Is it easy?  Absolutely not!  Especially when your husband lovingly eats cotton candy the whole way home from the grocery store.  Are the conditions perfect for me to succeed?  No, they are no different than yesterday, but now I have the motivation to change what I need to and make them perfect.  I figure any change worth making isn't easy at first.  I'll keep you updated with how this goes!  If you have any suggestions on what to eat, they'd be greatly appreciated!