No Shortcuts

(This post can be tied in a funny sort of way, think about it, to my previous post of "Ghetto Booty" and "Barrio Booty").

This has been my world of late. In trying to live a healthier life, eating healthier and working out, be it three to five times a week here and there, I can not get away from the daily temptations and stress that life brings about.

(cough, cough) Perfect example is when you come in to work, bound and determined to stick to your healthy way of eating and you find this on your desk!!!!

"Temptation Laid Before Me..."

I have always tried "crash diets" since moving to Houston, many years ago... nothing ever worked. Until 2002 when I started the Atkins diet, I was successful in losing 45 -50 lbs. Although I lost the weight and in my own mind, was eating healthier, I still wasn't living healthy. I wasn't exercising and I was partying every week-end. I thought that my activity at work was enough exercise, I do alot of walking and some lifting. Very rarely do you find me at my desk behind this monitor.

In 2003, I started doing "a little" bit of exercise, not enough to make a big difference though. Until I met PC, I finally gave in to a "Big Girls" work out. I'm not in the gym every day, but I do work out at home about 3 times a week, two, if things get hectic or busy. I'm happier about myself when I'm working out 4 - 5 times a week though. I have this problem though, and it gets in the way sometimes (I know, no excuses!), the house has to be in order before I will allow myself to do anything for me. I guess it can be considered an OCD thing...

As much as the Atkins diet worked for me, I had hit a plateau. I got down to the weight that I had placed as my goal in 2005 and in the last two years have gained back 10. I know that I have to do something, nothing drastic, but to be more committed to lose the 10 lbs, to work harder at it. I am now attempting the Zone Diet, and in living it for a month, I'm finding that I have to re-adjust my activity level and possibly my eating habits with fruit. I'm thinking now that maybe I have been eating more than my allotted blocks when it comes to fruit, I have a weakness when it comes to fruit. And even maybe the fact that I have myself set too high in my activity level. I have to do some refiguring in my diet plan. But I'm bound and determined to lose the 10 lbs that I have gained in the last two years and be more fit physically. It's all a learning process...

With all this being said... I leave you with this.

The world often tempts us with instant gratification: get rich - today; lose wieght - today; have everything you want - today. Yet life's experiences and God's Word tell us that the best things in life require heaping helpings of both time and work.

It has been said, quite correctly, that there are no shortcuts to any place worth going. For believers, it's important to remember that hard work is not simply a proven way to get ahead; it's also part of God's plan for His children.

So do yourself this favor: don't look for shortcuts...because there aren't any.