If you fall down, get right back up

It was a low point in my Body for Life Challenge today. Last night, after work, I went for a walk, stopped by the tanning place and did a quick tan, came home and did my weigh-in and body fat measurements, and then did another quick walk with Cheryl. At that point, everything was great. I had a really nice talk with the owner of the tanning place. I got to try out one of the cooler tanning units (it's a stand up unit instead of a bed). My weight and body fat were much improved.

I went out with some friends, planning to avoid drinking anything but water and maybe a diet cola. But, I figured a beer or two would be okay and that I deserved a little reward. Well, it turned out to be three beers and a glass of scotch and a shot of tequila and then ice cream at Steak n' Shake afterwards. I got home late. I took a ten minute stroll to try to metabolize some of the bad stuff, but I knew it wouldn't be enough. During the stroll, I realized my tanning session had left me with a burn on the outsides of my legs. I must have missed a spot with my lotion. I put some lotion on the red areas. Then, I drank a huge glass of water and went to bed.

Today, I was running on less than four hours sleep, fought to re-hydrate all day, and I decided to skip my thermogenic since my metabolism was still dealing with the alcohol, sunburn, and the corresponding imbalances. I stuck to my eating plan, but I didn't have any energy when I got home and finally gave in and fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up, I had missed a meal and I was feeling pretty low about all the stuff I had done wrong in less than 24 hours.

So, I got ready to do my lower body workout, about four hours behind schedule. I changed from my soccer shorts to my running shorts so I could see my muscles flex. I put on some rock music, opened my Body for Life book to the inside cover, so I could look at the before and after pictures between sets, and then I hit the weights. I hit several personal bests, including a set of six dead lifts with 100 lbs. My abdominal work really felt good.

So, I feel like I'm back on track. I'll trade off some of the excesses yesterday by cutting back on my off day a little. I'll go back on my thermogenic tomorrow and do an extra day of it over the weekend (I usually don't take it on the weekends since I'm pretty active compared to during the week). It's amazing what one good workout can do.

When I posted my four week pictures, I added some shots of me in my swimsuit. I thought they showed my progress a lot better and, although I was a little shy about how little I'm wearing in them, I figured very few people would see them. Well, unbeknownst to me, Cheryl put out an email to all our friends the same day that I posted the pictures, telling everyone about our web site and our Body for Life challenge info! So, suddenly, half the world has the address for this photo montage of me 90% unclothed!

I went back to it tonight and made a few changes, but I left all the pictures out there. I just decided not to worry about it. Looking them over, I felt inspired. I don't know what other people will think of them, but that just doesn't matter to me as much as it used to. So what if I don't look like a fitness model. This is all about improvement. I'm improving, feeling better, trying new things. I like my life right now and that hasn't always been true in the recent past. If I can muster the courage to change my lifestyle, I can certainly handle having a few revealing pictures posted on a web site.

Speaking of lifestyle changes, I need to sleep. Oddly enough, I feel like I had a good day after all.