unreLENTing.

I've never "given up" anything for Lent. 

It's not something we really do.

But I really, really love the sentiment. 

Chatting online with a few other girls, there were discussions about Lent and how people approach it. I really connected with somebody who said that their pastor didn't focus on GIVING UP something, but instead suggested challenging yourself and making yourself a better person during Lent. 

So, that's what I've decided to do. 

I am CHALLENGING myself to make myself better.

I'm working out daily.

Yes. 

Scrape yourself up off the floor. CORY.

(We love you and miss you. Come see us. I'll make you Oreo Ice Cream Desert so we can totally blow what I'm about to write. For serious. I need BFF time!)

I eat a healthy breakfast (read, whole wheat cereal), and a big lunch. I'm not drinking any soda at home. I allow myself one small snack a day. I eat a small/moderate dinner (not because I don't want to eat dinner, I don't feel like it. Working out at around 3:30 leaves me with zero appetite for the rest of the day. Love it!) I make sure at least one of my meals has veggies. IF I drink a soda during the day, I am not allowed any iced tea lemonade at home. I drink water all day long. I alternate between two workout DVDs. 

Now, don't judge.

Or do, I don't care.

I alternate between these two: 

My Tae Bo has an extra workout on it called the Ultimate Fat Burner or something and that's the one I'm doing now, because I'm not advanced enough to do the 90 minute workout (yesh!). I will say, in the beginning, I had to stop a couple of times and catch my breath. 

I love the Carmen Electra DVD. In fact, I swear by it. I have all 4 of the Aerobic Striptease DVDs, but I don't even pay attention to the other 3. This one is won-der-ful. I love it. I look forward to doing it, and it's not because of Carmen, but because of the guy she has actually DOING the work, Michael Carson. He is fan-freaking-tastic. I am just doing the 30 minute workout until I feel like it's getting easy, then I'll add on the quick <10 minute sections targeting legs, bum and abs.

Before we got married, I did the Carmen DVD every night for about... oh, two months before the wedding? Maybe not even that much and my results were pretty fantastic: 

I'm thrilled to say that after 13 days of really making an effort, I am truly seeing results. Seeing the results has me so enthusiastic about maintaining my current pattern. I am not even tempted to use Liam not napping as an excuse to lay off my workout. 

I'm pretty proud of myself. 

NEXT?

My next project is to start doing something during nap time. I do my workout as soon as I put Liam down. This takes between 35 and 45 minutes. When I'm done, I've been plopping on the couch in front of my computer until he wakes up. NOT a very productive use of my time. I think I'm going to start doing a different thing each day of the week during nap time. Things like, reading my Kindle, painting (watercolors), working with my pastels, writing, cleaning... ANYTHING besides sit on my bum and do nothing. And something that doesn't cost money. That'd be nice. 

What are YOU doing for Lent?

Are you challenging yourself?

{images: Carmen, Billy}