Making Plans for August

So I've been thinking on what my plans and goals should be for August. I know one is a no-soda challenge. Another is to continue the 30 day Ab Challenge, I've had to restart this one but it's not failing unless you quit doing. I've not quit so I'm still good.

I'm going to be working on menu plans for this month. I think I'm going to do them one week at a time and find a good rotation that works for my bunch.  I'm going to be concentrating on freezer cooking for breakfasts and dinners, healthy school lunches for the kiddies and I, healthy after school snacks, crockpot meals  and easy meals for when Hubby has to fix dinner or we need something easy due to busy nights. I've got a ton of ideas on my Pinterest boards. Some are fine like they are, some I need to tweak to make them better.  

Non fitness/food related plans are homework for the kiddies. They do not have any assigned anymore. The teachers don't want to grade homework so they don't assign it  The kids are not taught cursive anymore. My fifteen year old cannot sign his name, it's embarrassing for him. His signature looks the same as it did in the 3rd grade, I hate it for him.  So I'm going to work with them all to give them the education that is lacking at school. I told my daughter the other day that we had three recesses, a 30 minute lunch and still learned more then they do today with their none to maybe one recess and, if they are lucky, 30 minute lunch.  I want to laugh when someone tells me kids are learning more in school today. Just go ask an eighth or ninth grader to do a paper including a resource/works cited page.  Find out if they can do simple multiplication or addition without the use of a calculator. I feel as if we have a ton of college dropouts coming because they've not ever been taught how to do that type of work. They're just not prepared for life after high school.

Anyway, enough of that soapbox, I'll step off for now. I hope all my dear readers are having a great week.

Do or Do Not...

The ladies who run Skinny Ms. website have posted another challenge. This is a 30 day ab challenge and I think I'll do this one.  I'm not going to try and do it, I'm going to finish it. Speaking of "try," I need to take a couple of words/phrases out of my vocabulary. One is the word "try," if I say try I'm automatically giving myself a way out. Say if I only finish a week of a 30 day challenge, well I tried...I didn't try, I got lazy and quit. For a while I'm taking the try out and putting do. I'm going to do this, I have to do this.

The other word is willpower. I'll drink a soda when we have it and just chalk it up to having no willpower. Another lazy way out, I can always choose not to drink. I'm using the word willpower as another excuse for bad decisions.

So from now on I won't try, I'll do. I won't say I have no willpower to stop something(or start). I'll just do it. I read it can take anywhere from 21 days to 60 days to create a new habit. I usually make it 2 weeks before I stop or slow down. I know I can battle through and make new habits. I can quit drinking soda, I can finish a 30 day challenge, I can stick with a workout plan. It's all a matter of determination, not willpower. Willpower is a human weakness, an excuse. I'm working on reducing my weakness, ending excuses. In the famous words of Yoda "Do or Do Not...There is no Try."

I hope you dear readers all have a wonderful weekend.

It's the 2nd week of July, already!

One day this summer feels like it's dragging by...then a week later I wonder where time has gone.  Sorry I haven't been posting much, between work and kiddies I've stayed busy.
I'm still going to the gym, just not as much as I should. Last week I only went once, this week I plan on going every other day and then working out at home in between times.  So yesterday I went did spin bike for a few minutes, ran/walk on the treadmill for about 15 minutes then 10x up and down the stairs(there's 26 of them, I counted yesterday).  I finished up with ab machine, leg press, leg extension, abductor/adductors and some decline crunches.
I plan on signing up for my next 5k this week. The race is next month, so I need to up my running so I can beat my time.  It's hard to run when morning temps are in the 80s and 90% humidity.  I can handle the heat no problem...the humidity saps my energy though.  I'm thinking of running in the late afternoon(about 5-6pm), but that has other issues as well. There's more traffic/people about, it's hotter(but less humid) and we're usually fixing/eating dinner at this time.  Oh well, I'll work it out somehow.
I guess I need to get off here and get moving, I've got a ton of outdoors/yard stuff I want to get done today and they're calling for rain this afternoon. I've got my fingers crossed that it rains and not just thunders and pretend like it's going to happen.  My veggies and flowers and water bill appreciate every little drop the clouds allow.