LINKY TOOL For the CDCC: Link up by the end of Sunday 9-25-11.

Here ya go!

You'll be able to link up earlier this weekend...and pray for T2KOs son...

I know some of you do your updates a day or two ahead, so I'll add a linky earlier--either later tonight or sometimes Saturday. That might make it a bit easier.

Also, one of our challengers let me know her son is ill, hospitalized. If you are a person of prayer, please pray for T2KO's boy. I hope she'll update soon with the status.

Hope everyone is doing well. If not, let us know. Blog about your obstacles, and maybe one of your fellow challengers has a tip, strategy, word of encouragement that will hit the spot.

And no matter what: No quitting!

Happy Friday!

DON'T DO-IT Self Bashing

Self Bashing = using negative terms to refer to yourself, your behavior, or your actions

I think this little ditty is needed more this week than an essay extoling the virtues of exercise. Note – there are some religious references here, because this is from my heart, and my faith is so ingrained into my being that I can't deny it.

I checked in on everyone this week, and I lost count of the number of times I read ‘fail’, ‘I’m Bad’, or some other version of self bashing. Let’s get this straightened out.

STOP IT.

RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!

First, the greatest cheerleader in your life is you. Not your Mom, not your BFF, not your husband or boyfriend, not Mir, not me. It’s all you, Sweetie. You live with yourself twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. You know yourself better than anyone else on the face of this planet. You cannot go through your days slapping destructive, negative labels on your forehead every time you miss a workout session or eat something fattening. They'll get tangled in your hair and leave sticky goo on your face.

Would you berate a little kid for eating a poptart, shaking your finger in his face and calling him a failure? Would you tell your Mom “You’re a bad person” if for some reason or another she didn’t run a mile yesterday? Would you scream at your Boss for eating a donut? No, of course not.

Then why the heck do you treat yourself that way?

You are a sentient creature, perfect in your creation, and you have a free will. This means that you are good, beautiful and complete simply because you exist. Because you breathe, walk, talk and think, you are the most amazing being in God’s creation. You are not a failure because you ate x-number of calories yesterday. You are not bad because you put something sweet in your mouth. You used your free will to make a poor choice, but you are not bad. You are NOT a failure.

What would you say to a child who has made a mistake? You’d forgive them, help them clean up the mess and then get on with the day. That is exactly how you should treat yourself. Pick yourself up, clean up the mess and move on. If you need help getting up, then ask someone. If you need help with the mess, ask someone. Poor choices are part of the weight loss game. They’re going to happen. Learn from them.

“Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.”

I know I’ve said this many times on my own blog – the physical part of losing weight is actually quite simple and very easy to do – eat less, move more, repeat. The mental part is a bazillion times more complicated. It starts with loving yourself, deciding to care for the body God made, making it healthy and strong. It continues with loving yourself, developing good eating habits and exercising. It ends with loving yourself and reaching out to others to share that love.

Love God above all else – love your neighbor as yourself. As Yourself. YOURSELF.

Love Yourself. Keep the Faith.

Thanks for Checking In! Pray for April!

I got late check-ins from Nanette and One Chick's, so that makes for 29 official check-ins.

April had a hospitalization, so if you're a praying sort, please keep her health in mind. She's at :  http://missapril-30before30.blogspot.com/

That accounts for all 30 challengers, I believe.

Let's continue to be supportive of each other. God bless us all this new week!

CHALLENGERS: Please, post your link to your September 18 Update Post, THANKS!

It's the start of a second week on the challenge. No matter if you did well, midling, or poorly, please post about it and link up to your update. AND PLEASE REMEMBER TO ADD YOUR ACTUAL SCALE WEIGHT IN THE BODY OF THE POST WITH THE UPDATE. (Added the previous, as I've seen three updates already that didn't include that. One of the rules, folks.) Here ya go: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I will post another blog entry tomorrow for any questions that need to be asked this week. Make sure the URL you enter is specific for your update post, not just your blog's home url, k? I have included the feature that lets you delete your own entry, in case you make an error. 30 Challenger = 30 links. Don't leave double links. Remove it if you make a mistake and re-enter. Let's see all 30 update by midnight today! A good week to all!