Ya see, just when you're going along so nicely, everything conspires to teach you that, no, you do not have this in the bag and yes, you will need to work at this forever.

Let me 'splain.

But first, the tally, please:

Tracking my food--5 points. It's not up on Spark yet, but I did it with paper and pencil. Every not so pretty bit of it.

Encouraging a teammate--5 points. More of a phone it in today. For a girl who got up at 3:45, I didn't have much free time on my hands today. ???

Cardio-- Wasn't easy. I got my 20 yoga in and hit the gym intending to do 60 at varying intensities (L3-12) on the elliptical, but I was on borrowed time as DD was at a friends and I needed to pick her up before the family began questioning whether they had a child abandonment situation on their hands. So I picked her up after doing 30 at intensities from 5-15 to make up for lost time.

No joke that I am going to need to stock up on the soap and shampoo. I stunk. That was a sweat the likes of which I haven't broken in...IDK...a year? Oh, sorry, is that too much for you to need to know?

Anywho, I was still short 10 but by that point I had a ready for dinner 7 year old on my hands and outside temps nearing the single digits. Time to get creative. I hauled both of our carcasses to the Home Depot, where I rarely buy anything (shop local, peeps!) but which has acres of smooth walking trails, otherwise knows as aisles. Plunked the girl in a cart with sudoku on the cellphone and power walked the perimeter, pushing 60 pounds of number crunching child. It wasn't the tops for fitness, but it counts. So there you go. 6 points.

Reflect--Yeah, yeah. 5 points. Last thing I want to do right now, since if I didn't mention it yet, I have been up for an eternity now! I know, it's like 18 hours, but I have to have my beauty rest!

Total: 21 points. Still on the express track to TEAM success.

Things I could have done better:

For the express track, today was one potential train wreck after another. Started strong, but started to eat my way through putting away the groceries. Nothing particularly unhealthy (7 Triscuits, 2 T of cottage cheese) but it would have been far worse if I hadn't stopped and written it down. I tell ya, that made me slam on the brakes and hard.

Football playoffs can suck it since my children have now come to understand that as Americans it is their Constitutional right (at least to hear them tell it) to get their passel of junque food like the rest of their pals during the games. They pretty much eat what I eat, which is not a lot of crap, so I've been going along with it the past few weeks. Supper tonight consisted of: *avert your eyes if you're squeamish about poor nutrition*

chimichangas
egg rolls
hot and sour soup
waffle fries
hot wings
celery and bleu cheese
edamame

Here's the thing. That little misstep with the Triscuits and cottage cheese? When faced with all that pile o' brown food, I was able to make good decisions. Thoughtful decisions. I didn't chow down because I wasn't starving, so I thought it out. I had the hot and sour soup (practically free in POINTS world) and then I asked myself what would I really regret NOT having tomorrow. The answer is and always will be hot wings. These were not some frozen, injected with lard, deep fried gar-bahge. I had just baked fresh wings and tossed them with 2 T of butter, 2 T of Red Hot and 2 t of vinegar. Really, in terms of "football food," relatively harmless. So I ate 7 of them. Cause they're small and cause I love them and cause they kept me from wanting a 300 calorie, injected with lard, deep-fried chimichanga. I had the celery, sans bleu cheese and a bowl of edamame. Football food, without ending up feeling like a linebacker.

Not my best day. But far from my worst.

Back to my routine tomorrow. Maybe we will have a week of school! Wouldn't that be nice?