Today is day 3 of a 30 day challenge I’m doing with my Masters Club. We each defined 1 standard for ourselves in each of 3 areas: nutrition, movement & lifestyle. You either get 1 point for hitting the standard or zero points for not hitting it. Super simple.
My nutrition standard for the challenge is: whole foods only, no snacks.
Does that mean I’ll ONLY have whole foods for 30 days & that I’ll not have any snacks?
Nope, surely not.
As I explained to my clients, the goal of the challenge is to set a standard that challenges you to do better. It’s not something you can easily nail every day.
Perfection is NOT the goal. Doing better than you’ve been doing is the goal.
Many of the Masters Club members were hemming and hawing over standards, not wanting to set themselves up to miss points.
I think anyone who gets a perfect score didn’t set their standards high enough.
As I set each of my 3 standards, I was looking for things that I’d have to work for. Standards that would stretch me and help me make the best choices possible.
If I hit them 75-80% of the time I’ll be totally thrilled.
Sometimes I’ll intentionally NOT hit them. Today is one of those days.
I’m headed down to the Cape tonight and I have dinner & after-dinner plans. I’ve decided ahead of time that I won’t drink at dinner but I will have one drink after dinner.
That means no points for today’s challenge in that area.
I’m cool with that.
Why? Because this is life. Because my choice still represents an improvement for me, it’s a choice I can feel proud of and because I believe life is about balance.
I’m not pursuing my goals with the expectation of perfection.
I am pursuing my goals in a way that makes me feel great about my life and my choices.
Sometimes that means a drink or a dessert. Often it doesn’t. Both are okay!
One of the 3 areas where we set standards is movement (which doesn’t have to mean exercise) and I definitely hit that with today’s workout.
Holy smokes it was a tough one!
“Filthy 50”
50 Box Jumps
50 Jumping Pull-ups
50 Kettlebell Swings (35/25#)
50 Walking Lunges
50 Toes-to-Bar
50 Push Press (45/35)
50 Hip Extensions (45/35)
50 Wallballs (20/14#)
50 Burpees
50 Double-unders
In hindsight, I could have and should have gone faster on the burpees. I was super tired and took too much time breathing at the top and the bottom of each rep.
I’m not disappointed though – I beat the time I hoped to beat and I learned for next time!
And: good golly are my shoulders smoked (and I can TOTALLY see more definition in my shoulders and back, which is so exciting!)
On the food front:
I had a kitchen fail this morning! I had a butter coffee from Picnik before my workout and I was super hungry after the workout. I had half a can of coconut milk (the part liquid, part solid kind) in the fridge so I thought I’d blend it up with some cold brew coffee & collagen. Sounds good, right?
It wasn’t. It’s not that it was bad, it just wasn’t great.
In the past, I’d have drank it anyway since it was there, but these days I’m far more discerning. If I’m going to eat or drink something, it’s gotta be GOOD.
I poured it out and had a cobb salad instead.
Before hitting the road I had some spaghetti squash bolognese and I sipped on a Zevia energy drink on the road.
At dinner, I’m planning to have salmon & veggies and I’ve put a couple cans of La Croix sparkling water in my pursue to mix with a shot of vodka for after dinner. I’ll just order a shot of vodka & a tall glass of ice and mix them myself.
Make it a great day!
PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.