“Getting good at starting over
Every time that I return.”
–Foo Fighters, “Walk”

Miles Last Week: 61
Total Miles: 1741

For August, I gave myself the 15-Minute Challenge, where I would do some sort of extra exercise for 15 minutes every day.

I’m not going to lie. I stopped doing that after, like, a week and a half.

BUT I did increase my daily mileage by half a mile and I’m working myself up to the next level of resistance. SO THERE.

I’m sorry. No one was being hostile. I’m just overly defensive about personal failures.

Given my track record on these monthly challenges, I think I’ve pretty much proven that adding activity is not necessarily the way I should be going. It’s mostly a time thing. I’m already spending a bit of time on the elliptical, and it’s difficult to feel motivation to do a whole other thing, too. I’m sorry to disappoint you with my laziness.

Time for a new tactic. (See what I did there?)

@7slimmingsecrets is an Instagram recommended to me by my sister. They post fitness inspiration quotes (that sometimes make me feel good), recipes (that I don’t make), exercises (that I don’t typically do), befores-and-afters (that I automatically compare myself to), and whatnot. Every now and then, the account shares a challenge, like this one I saw yesterday while scrolling through.

Of course, my first thought was, “Psh, there’s no way I would do that.”

Then I changed my mind. Perhaps it was fortuitous that I saw this on the last day of the month. It won’t be easy, but I’m gonna do it for these first three weeks of September. I can totally do three weeks…I think…maybe.

No candy.
Last week, I made the mistake of going to CVS when I was hungry. And because they keep all the candy by the registers, I could barely stop myself from adding three bags to purchase and eating them over the last week. I think I’m due for some time without it.

No cake.
I can’t think of any birthdays I’ll be celebrating for the next three weeks, so this shouldn’t be too terrible.

No chips.
I probably shouldn’t admit this in any type of public forum, but I’ve always been a big fan of Cheetos. I can sense that you’re already judging me, but those squiggles of edible Styrofoam covered in cheese dust are freaking delicious. As a matter of fact, there is an unopened bag of Baked Cheetos in the kitchen right now, calling to me. Luckily, it should keep for the next few weeks–actually, let’s be honest, it’ll totally keep longer than that for a lot of reasons.

No white bread.
It’s highly likely that I eat more white bread than I realize. This might not work out well for me.

No fast food.
It seems unpatriotic, somehow, to give up fast food for a while. This is America, after all–the land of golden arches, bells of tacos, and royal burgers. I hope I won’t be found guilty of treason.

Let’s also get one thing straight. I don’t count pizza as fast food. It frequently takes longer than 20 minutes, which is not fast at all when you’re hungry. You can get served in a real restaurant more quickly than that. I guess I’m just saying that I might hurt anyone who says that pizza is fast food. You can’t make me count it.

No chocolate.
BUT DARK CHOCOLATE IS GOOD FOR YOU! Sort of. Ah, man.

No ice cream.
I had a farewell bowl last night. I think I’ll be okay.

Crap. I’m already craving those Baked Cheetos.

This is going to be even worse than I thought.