Fitness Friday: Don't Tempt Me!

This week for Fitness Friday, hosted by Brenda of The Family Revised: Fitness Friday: The Temptation Edition, I am to share with you what tempts me in the area of my Fitness goals.  

How long do you have?!

Seriously.

But first, let me give the weekly goal update.  In short, I failed miserably.  Now, I didn't eat a whole bunch of empty carbs, but I also did not cut the yummy brown sugar from my nutrient-rich grain breakfasts nor the melty butter from my whole-grain steaming-hot bread slices.  I also consistently overslept and, therefore, consistently did not exercise this week--at all.  Do I even need to confess that I got zero alone time in my prayer closet?!  

But, I did finally get my exercise ball out of the garage, where it's been since we moved--nearly five months ago--and I've been using it at the table when I'm caught in the home-school-mom-of-four cycle of grammar-mathematics-narration-dictation-correction.  

I may not be a secretary, but that doesn't mean it won't spread, right?!  

The ball forces me to use muscles that would otherwise lay dormant, like a dead bear in winter, for longer than I care to ponder, while lost in said dizzying cycle of grammar-mathematics-narration-dictation-correction.

Okay--getting on with it--since what doesn't tempt me is part and parcel of the assignment, I'll start here:

As much as I like to bake, sweets no longer tempt me.  It's funny, but my tastes have changed over the many years.  Today, I much prefer a rich, melty cheese on a baguette slice than a piece of cake or a nugget of chocolate.  Call it what you may, but I'm calling it maturity, which sounds loads better than old buds.

Processed- and fast-foods never tempt me; I'm so used to eating whole foods-even if I eat too many of them-that these "foods" make me really and swiftly sick.  This old mature dog has learned that it's just. not. worth. it.

Now, on to what does tempt me:

Sleep tempts me.  I have always loved sleep.  I mean, ever since I was a babe, I have had the ability to sleep for-ev-ah, especially during winter.  

But, without an alarm clock to wake me, I am often running behind in my day's routine, and exercise is the first thing to get chucked out the window.  No bueno (which means "no good," for you gringos).  Terry, at Breathing Grace, recently wrote about the goodly and, perhaps, godly habit of rising early.  This was music to my ears, or, dare I say, a confirmation of the conviction under which I've been recently.  So, let's just add "rising early" to my personal goals, which will, in its turn, greatly affect my exercise goals.  Oh! and maybe that solitary prayer goal, too!

Freshly baked bread with freshly salted butter tempts me-BIG TIME (don't you just love the 80's?!)!  I have no idea how to avoid this partic temptation since I bake it up like Wonder-Bread-Woman every Saturday, and my fam will never hear of living without it.  I suppose I could limit my consumption to just one buttery slice once each week..............?

Freshly popped corn and peanut M&M's tempt me on Family Movie Nights.  Oh, why are they such the perfect couple?!  I blame my lovely Papa for spoiling me as a tot--love that man.  I'm keeping it.

My li'l brother's nachos tempt me.  Actually, anything my li'l brother makes is guaranteed to be fan-tabulous!  That boy can cook, y'all!  And yes, making nachos is considered cooking, as well as whipping up some rockin' guacamole.  Oooooh-weee!  Luckily for me ((did I say that??)), I don't see my brother nor eat his fab food much anymore.  And obviously, he doesn't eat it much anymore either: he's lost thirty pounds over the last six months!!  Don't you just hate love how men can do that sooo easily?

Most of all, becoming fit for vanity's sake tempts me.  I do want to be attractive in my husband's eyes, and I do want to be a healthy servant, fit for God's work before me, but I struggle more with wanting to be attractive in my own eyes.  Long struggling with sinful pride, which was passed down generation upon generation like old Irish lace made by nuns (my grandmother and mother both being bulimic), the triggers for disordered eating and self-image continue to haunt me.  I'm harder on myself than anyone could ever be--merciless.  God forgive me and continue to change me!

So, how are you tempted by the wiles of this world?  Is there something that just never leads you astray from your fitness goals? something that always threatens to derail you?  When was the last time you busted out with the Running Man dance move?

Thanks again, to Brenda, who never fails to bring out my best and worst with her Fitness Friday challenges.  She is truly a sharpening rod in my life.  God bless her!  And may God bless you as you shimmy on over to The Family Revised for more temptation!  That just doesn't sound right...