10 Day Checkup: My 40-for-40 Challenge

Contrary to popular belief, I am not perfect 😉
I am, however, proud to say that I have risen to my 40-for-40 Lent Challenge in a close-to-perfect kind of a way…here is my 10 Day Checkup:
I have managed to completely give up sweets with 2 tiny slip-ups.  I have not had any cookies, cakes, pies, brownies, etc…, but I tossed two chocolate mints in my mouth at Kona Grill without even realizing what I was doing (I wanted to spit them out as soon as I became cognizant of what I had done, but I thought that might not be too lady-like so I chomped and swallowed them in a sickly, guilty manner), and I had blueberry muffins for breakfast (my adorably sweet family made them, so I did not have the heart to say, “Thanks for the efforts, loved ones, but I refuse to eat that.”) – all in all, though, I feel like my Give Up challenge has been uberly successful.
It has been so successful that for the next 10 days, I am adding to my Give Up column.  Drum roll please…I am also giving up bread for the rest of Lent.  My reasoning goes like this:  #1) Bread is heavenly, just like dessert, so really it could be considered a sweet in my world, therefore, I need to give it up, and #2) I’m not gonna lie, I had hoped that the extra “sweet” pounds would just fall off of me after 10 days of no dessert, but it has not (although, I’ve been eating more than I usually do and not gaining weight, either), so I figure the next highest hurdle on my list of weaknesses is bread.
This one will be tough!  I use bread daily, and let’s be honest, I love bread.  I keep cinnamon raison bread on hand for a quick breakfast with fruit, I snag a PB&J sandwich on the go for lunch on a regular basis, and I serve some sort of bread with dinner almost every night (like any self-respecting southern momma who shows her love through over-stuffing her family at least once a day, sometimes twice or thrice!!).  But I can do it, and I have a hunch that I will feel much less “bogged down” because I do believe that while bread is tasty and filling, it does slow us down and create that weighted, sleepy feeling that encourages doing less and napping more.  I can do it…at least, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…
Now for the Add To challenges I gave myself.

I purposefully aligned certain challenges with dates that I had fun things planned, so “Begin a daily yoga routine” was easy because I was enrolled for a free trial class that day, and “See a show” was absolutely no effort as I already had tickets for the theater.

After putting the easy Add To items on my list for those first ten days, I filled in with wish list items.  I am happy to report that I accomplished most everything I challenged myself to do.
I was less-than-perfect on my exercise which is, sadly, no big surprise as this is an area where I fall flat from the greatest of intentions pretty regularly.  But I’m not giving up, and I plan to continue putting yoga and core work on my daily calendar.  The other items on the list are checked off, and I’ll share some pics and stories over the next few days.  I will also share progress on days 11-20 which I have tweaked just a little after days 1-10 illustrated to me exactly how desperate I am to get a few projects and organizational tasks checked off and put out to pasture.  So, here is how my next 10 days will look:

That should keep me busy and in line!  I hope your first 10 days have gone well, and I hope your next ten days are even better – please, please, please share your ideas, your challenges, and your progress 🙂
Just think, only 30 days till Easter dessert!!