20-somethings Fall Challenge Week 1 - Accentuate the Positive?

For the week 1 ‘optional’ challenge for my 20-somethings Fall Challenge group (Team “Brown Chicken Brown Cow” say it fast while making a “cowboy” gesture), we were challenged to “Post a blog that highlights the good things that you see this week.” This was definitely a *challenge* for me this week, since things haven’t really been feeling that positive at all…

Let me explain: I was really enthusiastic about joining this challenge. I had never participated in a SparkTeam challenge before because of my random work and travel schedule, but I was determined to try this one. Even though I’ll be travelling abroad for the second month of the challenge (October 1-November 7 in Europe, baby!) I found an awesome partner who would take my weigh-ins by text and post them for me, and loaded the SP app on my iPad so that I could be ready. Even before the official challenge kickoff after Labor Day, I was reading up on what the weekly challenges would be and getting to know my team-mates. What a nerd! If I’d paid that much attention in school, I’d have two PhDs by now, but I digress…

I was pumped and ready to go – ready to focus on tracking, cardio, ST, and just getting it done!
But then… mid-way through the drive to a friend’s wedding on the long weekend, I noticed a tickle in my throat.

By the time we got to our hotel, my tonsils were the size of golf balls.

By the time I left the wedding reception, I had a crazy fever, and by the time Tuesday morning rolled around and the challenge that I had been looking forward to for weeks started, I had a diagnosis - strep throat - that came with strict orders to sit on my a$$. No work, no socializing, and definitely no "getting it done" at the gym,

Needless to say, I was severely bummed. Honestly, my first thought was...

I definitely wanted to drown my sorrows in a tub of ice cream and throw in the towel, BUT...
Did I really do all that prep work to walk away because week 1 looked like a bit of a wash? Not really.
Did I seriously think that lifting my finger to track my food would be too much exertion? Uh... no.
Was retreating into my bedroom with my least sexy pyjamas and a pint of Cherry Garcia going to make me feel better? Not likely.

So, I tried to do what I could.
I logged my food.
I made sure to get my 8 glasses of water in between glasses of flat ginger ale and mint tea.
When I stumbled to the kitchen for sustenance, I reached for fruits and veggies first.
When I did indulge in some "poor you, you're sick" frozen treats that my husband brought home for me, I portioned them and tracked them.

In other words, I did my best. This is one of the best lessons I've learned from Spark, and something my poor mother's been trying to teach me ever since I can remember. Just because you can't do it all, doesn't mean you can't do anything at all. Progress, not perfection. All you can do is your best. Whatever you want to call it - that's my "positive" coming out of this week.

And the result? My week 1 weigh-in was a few ounces down from my starting weight. Not where I'd hoped to be, but not too shabby, considering (plus it feels like I'm still carrying about 10 pounds of conjestion in my nose and sinuses, so once I get rid of that, I'll be golden!)

Next week, I can start to excercise again, and build up my activity levels gradually. I hope that by the end of next week, I'll be back to doing it my way and getting it done! But for now, it's enough to know I've learned something, and that I managed to stay the course.


** "Everything is ruined for Elephant" courtesy of kaboodle.com, although the true origins of this particular meme could probably only be charted with le advanced forensics.