Fancy meeting you here again this afternoon! I bet you didn’t expect to see me until a bit later, huh? Well, with Makenzie in preschool and Braedon getting in his morning nap, I found some extra time and decided to use it to hang out with some of my other favorite people. That would be you.

Plus, I couldn’t wait to give you more of the details on the panel discussion – The Numbers Game -  Janetha, Beth, Lisa, and I shared at the Healthy Living Summit!

What exactly does “The Numbers Game” mean? Well, as healthy living bloggers many of us have goals in some form or fashion. They may be specific…or just to live healthy in general. No matter our goals, numbers usually play a factor in some way.

Allow me to break it down for you here so you can feel like you were right there with us. Or so you can be there again. PS – If you came, you’re my new best friend. <3

Examples of How We Use Numbers In Goals 

• calories/points/number of veggies for a dietary goal
• scale weight or measurements for a weight loss goal
• mileage or pace for a running goal
• number of workouts done a week for a fitness goal
• blog subscribers, page views, etc for blogging related goals

Our panel touched on our own personal goals to share a variety of perspectives on each of these. Numbers can be a very useful tool in our goals and should be used accordingly. The use of numbers has many positives to helps us in achieving our goals.

Positive Use of Numbers In Goals

• to serve as a benchmark to help track our progress in a concrete, measurable way
• to give us feedback on our actions so we can adjust as necessary
• to motivate us to keep going when we see the desired results

Numbers obviously have their place when it comes to our goals. If you want to PR in a race, complete a set of 20 pushups on your toes, or eat more vegetables – you will likely use numbers to help get there.  However, the positives of numbers in goals can easily get sucked into a negative black hole if you don’t proceed with caution.

Some Negative Ways We Use Numbers In Goals

• the comparison trap with others OR with our previous selves
• feeling frustrated and wanting to give up when the results aren’t as great as hoped
• getting prideful and not putting in the effort when get close to achieving a goal
• losing sight of realistic goals or wanting to continue progress beyond what is healthy for you or your body

Just because there are some negative ways goals can crop up doesn’t mean we need to say “forget about it” and not use them at all. Definitely not! They have their place. Our panel hoped to emphasize a few things to help keep that healthy balance and that could take up a whole other post. So, stay tuned for ways to use numbers without going insane in the membrane. I don’t want to send you into overload right now. Heck, my mind still needs a bit of a break so it doesn’t go into overload after this weekend!  

But for a little fun…let’s end this post with some quite interesting blooper shots. I can get pretty intense!

Time for me to catch you later! Now, if only I had time for that little cat nap…

• What are some ways you use numbers for goals and their pros or cons?
• Do you get nervous public speaking? I surprisingly didn’t once I got up there!

Monday morning is upon us yet again. Although I won’t lie. I have welcomed this Monday morning with open arms. In recent posts, I alluded to the fact I haven’t really been on top of my “healthy living game” so to speak. The 80/20 balance of eating I strive for has tipped the scales a little more in the indulgent side’s favor over the past week.

I felt overwhelmed, fatigued, and burnt out a good portion of last week. Those feelings led to a body zapped of energy and killer headache after killer headache. That equated to dinners such as a bowl of cereal with a glass of wine or a plate of french toast.

I have eaten a fair share of meals out of the house. Tuesday, when my first migraine hit, Peter picked us up Atlanta Bread Company for dinner. Friday, when Peter received a special reward at work, we headed out to one of our favorite BBQ spots to celebrate. Last night, when both of us got struck with a sudden super craving for pizza, we found ourselves using one of our save deals for a pizza night out.

Last week, between Monday and Friday, I only worked out once. I picked myself up by the boot straps running shoes and got myself moving both days this weekend, but it hasn’t been a walk in the park. It took everything I had in me to get straight to the gym for my workout instead of straight to the couch for a nap after church yesterday.  

Do I feel bad about this? No. Like I mentioned in my Body Love Song post, I understand my body (and mind) simply needed a break. I try really hard to stay positive and on top of everything for everyone else, which can leave me crashing very suddenly. I crashed and didn’t want to feel any pressure related to anything last week – including fitting in workouts and preparing healthy meals. Maybe not the healthiest approach out there, but it’s what happened. I felt much, much, much better by Friday after giving myself some time to recoup and relax. But that break didn’t make it easy to jump right back into my standard, healthy, balanced lifestyle. It’s been work picking back up my healthier habits.

Why am I sharing this with all of you? It’s not to throw a pity party. I truly don’t fret missing a lifting session, skipping a run, or scooping yet another bowl of ice-cream. I feel fine and oddly enough, found myself fitting even better in a pair of my “happy weight jeans” than even just a few weeks ago. I know I could have gone way further off the deep end and found myself in binges instead of simply choosing some pizza over salad at dinner. So, I ask again – why am I sharing this with all of you?

Last week’s Fitblog Chat, hosted by Anda of Leaving Fatville, focused on the topic of  honesty in our healthy habits and do we ever “cheat” on our healthy lifestyles and fail to divulge it in our blogs. I mentioned my rough week more in passing, without giving details of extra BBQ meals out or photos of my bowls of ice-cream. It didn’t come out of a place of avoidance or trying to hide behind my “healthy persona”. I did, however, still find myself naturally steering away from those tidbits and towards other post topics, including a new post in my exercises by body part series. I’m not 100% sure why – whether because I had other things to talk about I found more interesting or if I did have some sort of subconscious insecurity of my meals/workouts.

Regardless of all that, I want to say now that I do sometimes struggle with keeping balance. I sometimes want to say I don’t give a toot over how many vegetable servings I have had in a day. I sometimes want to mock my gym clothes as I wear them to laze on the couch with my kids instead. But then I remember, as the fabulous Julie put it so well, sometimes healthy living means saying NO. To the ice-cream. To the call of the couch. To the Groupon deals. This morning I am saying NO and fighting the fight to find myself back in that balance I love so much. It may be hard. But it will be worth it. Oh, it will be worth it. See you at the gym!

• Do you ever feel like you want to just not worry about healthy choices?
• What are your thoughts on the material bloggers choose to share? Do you think we may unintentionally (or perhaps intentionally) leave out details because of a pressure to depict a “healthy living persona”?