This is my first entry, I must admit, I have been very resistant to using this, the current online “Social” networking is not my favorite thing.  As far as the 100-day Heart challenge, I haven’t been as diligent as I hoped to be but, I have no one to blame but myself for what I did “not” accomplish in the prior weeks.

I heard a saying yesterday that caught my attention, and wondered why I haven’t been more cognizant to it before. ”The time for action is now; it is never too late to do something. “  Tony Wrighton. I know what I need to do, cardio >30 minutes at least 5 or 6 times a week, strength training at least 3 days a week, and nutrition—the thing that is my bane as well as my savior. 

Early this morning I received an email from a friend and they stated, “Your health decisions are up to you.  As much as the rest of us want to help, you have to be the one to take responsibility for your choices.  Now is the time to make that change.” This inspired me to commit to my own well-being. I did cardio tonight for 40 min and every 4 min I jogged at 13.5mile/hr. speed at the AF Rec center. 5 min warm-up, 35 min cardio and 5 min cool-down, and I DID IT! No, it is not easy, but I did it, I need to keep it up.

I was speaking to Mindy after class last Thursday and told her about the “a-ha” moment I had the night before. Her lecture that day struck a chord with me, in-so-much that I was wondering why suddenly everything had gone to “heck in a hand basket”.   I then realized I am trying too much. I am panicking that the days are ticking down from 100 to the end. I felt sheer powerlessness at the outcome, yet in that dark moment; I had a glimmer of hope. I realized that this 100-day challenge is not the end, but the path of a lifestyle that will and should continue way beyond the 100-Days end.  All the stress at not “reaching” my goals due to my own self-sabotage caused a paradigm thought change within me. “It took me over 30 years to get this way, and you are expecting too much to have it all changed and working properly in 100-days, but don’t let that be an excuse, you have more days and more time to continue, improve and be what you believe you can become.” 

Bless my trainer, Leah’s heart; she is so forgiving and positive. I don’t think I could have asked for someone better as a trainer. I will use this time wisely, get in a habit to work on the low-hanging fruit such as nutrition improvement, working out habit cultivation, and self (things within my head) improvement. It is just a beginning with HUGE payoffs the rest of my life. So this coming week, I want to work out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The time is unimportant but the fact that I have written it here for all to see, at least all that are important to me, so I need to follow through. We all have rough times and can easily blame othe\rs, but it comes down to our choices and how we accept the responsibility of them and be accountable for the outcomes.

To end this a quote from a book I am currently reading, “If we don’t practice the tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us, and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, a world of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who saunters along.” –Carl Sagan, Astronomer.