Halfway but not Halfway

So I had a few major thoughts this week:

I have very little control in most parts of my life.  The things I put in my mouth and how I spend my free time are the few things I can control.

The Challenge is halfway over, but that's not when the good choices stop.

When I was in high school my dad was a very busy man.  He had put on a few pounds and I remember that one summer he decided to give up desserts and ended up losing thirty pounds.  It's not fair, right ladies?  The thing that I really remember is that when he decided to give up desserts, he said he felt like it was the one thing he could control.

I have a four-year-old, a three-year-old, and an eight-month-old baby.  I teach at least four gym classes a week, fourteen piano students, and I'm training for a half marathon.  I'm moving in five months and I've never packed an entire house with kids before.  There are very few things I can control.  My house looks like a mess when we spend the day at home, but it takes a lot of energy to take three kids anywhere.  I can't control my kids, but I try.  I don't have a lot of free time, but I try to make priorities.

I can control the food I put in my mouth.  I can control the food I keep out of my mouth.  I can control what time I go to bed.  I can control what time I wake up to exercise, if I exercise at all.   I can control what I do in my free time- whether I watch TV or read my scriptures.  I'm not perfect, but I always have choices to make.  The results in my health and my happiness are direct results of those choices I make.  We can't necessarily control all of the results or how our body will react.  (Weight loss depends on a lot of variables including hormones, water retention, and genetics).  Either way, you can choose to be healthy and that doesn't always mean being as thin as you think you should be.

Onto my second thought: I have been keeping track of points for four weeks for this Challenge.  I actually did some of my own goals and food logging for a while before that.  Although it's really helpful, it's not realistic that I can do that for the rest of my life.  The purpose of this Challenge is to help you (and me) remember the choices that we should be making.  Choosing vegetables and fruit over treats.  Making time to exercise, drink more water and get more sleep.  Be a better friend and motivate each other to make these good choices.  I recognize that there are only four more weeks of this Challenge, but don't put a time limit on these healthy lifestyles you are creating.  Remember how good you feel physically.  Remember how good you feel emotionally when you turn down a cookie because "it's not worth the points."

I know that I will let loose for a little while when this is over because I'm human.  But I also know that making this lifestyle change for 2 months won't change back to my previous choices overnight.  I can still be in control.