St. Augustine addressed the up-’til-then-taboo topic of the autobiography with his _Confessions_, which is his life story and testimony. Augustine explained that he believes in the fallen nature of man based on his own experiences as well as his observation of newborns. High-brow and uber-religious stuff aside (but you should read it; it is brilliantly inspirational),we all have a story and a struggle and we all fall short of our goals and hopes. If it happened to the father of the autobiography and pious padre himself, it will happen to us. We need to admit these failures to ourselves. After all, as Augustine pointed out, a person knows himself better than he knows anything else. We know, but do we admit it? ‘Fess up.

I admit the following: I let my emotions dictate my workout intensity and determination. I enjoy sweets in spurts that last up to a month. I am almost always under-hydrated. In spite of anger draining my energy ( I allow it), I permit my rage and memories that I don’t let go of to ruin my workouts sometimes.

With these admissions in mind, what can I do? Therapy? Sure. Prayer? Definitely. Meditation? Yup. Purge the house of all junk food?  . . . I really should. Why haven’t I? Because I use excuses to justify keeping chocolate chips in the house because my son wants to open a bakery someday and he needs to learn to bake. I taught two classes on Thursday, so I excuse the failure to run and to lift with that, in spite of carbo-loading because the kids did not finish their spaghetti.

Where does that leave me? Sluggish and grumpy. That does not work with two little kids. So I need to evaluate my life, my goals in the short and long-term. I want to be around for my kids and be actively involved in their lives and make them into self-sufficient, polite, hard-working members of society. So my cholesterol needs to stay down. Potato chips and candies and cookies have to leave because my kids are more important than Thin Mints or Ruffles and dip. I am vain and I want to keep my tush the way it is. So squats are necessary. No skipping the weights. I am vain and I want to keep my arms looking good. Okay, so the weights have to come out. I cannot afford a new wardrobe from gaining weight. So the running has to happen. I am stressed as all get-out (read: AF), so skipping yoga does not work.

But thinking this way does nothing. Write it down. Even if your goal is “maintain,” you have more concrete goals — your goal is to do the things that will allow you to maintain. Mark that yoga class on your calendar. Watch my barre workout in the morning and plie right along with me. Write it on your calendars. All of them. Work, family, et c. An unwritten goal is a wish. My mother tells me that “if wishes were horses then beggars would ride.”

Write down how you will do these things. You get grandma to pick up Bubba Sue from karate so that you can run or lift. You call her right now and calendar that. Right now. These words will still be on this screen in 3-45 minutes while you talk to your mother. Okay, now pack five protein shakes this evening for your next five workouts. If you only have one shaker bottle, that’s cool. Dump the powder into a plastic container with a lid and a scoop or into snack taxis or sandwich baggies. Do it.

Do you run through fast food places because your kids are starving and so are you? Prepare non-perishable  HEALTHY snacks to keep in your car — if the weather is cold, you can do this with produce, too. Or make a cold dinner that you put in the car in the morning before you pick up the kids. Plan. And act on your plan. A tuna salad wrap after practice will be met with groans for a few weeks, but your kids will adapt. That’s what they do. You might take several months to get over the change, but you can adapt, too. Trust me. You adapted to driving and working and everything else in life, so do this.

Most importantly, READ YOUR PLAN EVERY EVENING and do what you told yourself to do. And be honest with yourself. Pray for strength. Right now. These words on the screen will wait, too. You pray and be thankful and request motivation. Confess your shortcomings and ask for help and strength and a change in your desires. Now, admit to yourself that you do this crap and write it down. Write down how you will fix it. Read that. Act on it.

Let’s make a pact to not eat the kids’ leftovers, shall we? Right now. Or to not eat our own meals so that we can finish their otherwise-wasted dinners. No more overeating to keep from wasting food. Nope. Write that down, too. I just did. 🙂

Good work and stay the course. Stay humble, ask for help, admit your flaws, make a plan, READ THE PLAN DAILY, and move forward.