Friday Confessional: Carrot cake, 'Wii fatigue,' and fried chicken

Well, it's official: The first inaugural Badass Fitness Friday Confessional is here. A big shoutout to Badass Danielle for coming up with the idea! 

The bad news: There was a whole lotta fried food sin and sloth happenin' this past week. The good news: It's a reminder that we're all human, and we cannot always muster the moxie to get to the gym or resist the allure of a great apple cobbler.  And guess what? We can be human and still be Badasses.

So first, I will confess my sins, just like I used to do every First Friday in Catholic school:

Forgive me, Badass Army, for I have sinned. I ate my weight in guacamole and chips Sunday night. I had ice cream as 'dinner' one night, totally violating the wholesome meal rule. I drank too much coffee and not enough tea. I ate too many Jawbreakers candies over a couple of days. And I chomped too much gum that was NOT sugar-free. (Proof of my guac binge is there at left, in the now-mostly-empty Tupperware of my homemade guacamole. Avocadoes are great for you, but probably not in the quantities I consumed...) 

Whew, it felt good to get all that off my Badass! Now, onto the rest of you. Some of you cracked me up, others made me think, "Oh I have totally been there!" And I give all of you props for fessing up. It takes moxie.

• Matt wrote to say that he played Wii for the first time and got "Wii sore," which apparently made him feel guilty because it was a reminder he needs to work on his fitness.
• Angel had a hot dog for dinner.
• Norma skipped breakfast and bike rides all week.
• Joshua worked out five days this week -- only to give in to the alluring smell of fried chicken one day. 
• Tamara brought a salad to work for lunch but ate pizza instead, and she didn't resist the cookies and chocolate her co-workers brought to the office.

"This Badass is going to have to swim a few extra laps at the pool," Tamara lamented.

• Myra ate Hot Tamales candies (why are those such awesomeness in a gooey capsule shape!?) for breakfast. The nutritional horror!

"I also might have taken some FROZEN cookie dough, (broke a knife to chip it off) and put it in the microwave on a plate," Myra confessed further. "A mini cookie delight but a most desparate way to cheat!"

• Stacey, a lobbyist, confessed her only exercise this week was the 'countless steps' she walks at the Capitol in Tallahassee this time of year:  "UGH. I really intended to get something done by now, but it just hasn't happened yet! Work, family, work, family....must make time for a quick workout or yoga for ME!!!"

I actually think Stacey's is more like a "half sin," because she didn't exactly sloth around watching TV all day. And having worked in the Capitol for a few years myself, I also know you can log a lot of miles running around that place! Plus, over the weekend she made that healthy Italian Vegetable Stew of my Grandma's and even sent me an iPhone picture of the beautiful results.

• A half-sin also goes to Tracy, who said he got run-down with the flu and made it worse by eating all wrong. The result: He gained 3 pounds and is struggling to muster the energy for his return to the gym. But hey, he had the flu! You get a Badass pass right there.
• I loved Julie's confession of her almond butter splurge, proof that too much of even a good food like almond butter can be, well, too much (says the hypocritical Guac-monger!): 

"Have been totally motivated this week, yay," Julie wrote. "But last week? Mmmm not so much. Ate almond butter, like, right out of the jar on the spoon, standing at the fridge, many MANY times thruout the day. Then I spied my kids' uneaten breakfast pancakes and thought 'Oh yeah,' spread it on there and rolled it up like a burrito. Not telling you how many I ate like that."

• Sarah got a hankering for this chocolate carrot cake her mother in law made years ago. And, after not eating dessert other than those Weight Watchers fudge pops for two months, she gave in.

"I baked a perfect cake, had a huge piece and then a smaller one yesterday. Froze most of the rest (not much left, after the husband had a go at it.) ...This was my first real dessert in over two months and it was GOOD. And I survived to tell about it."

Sarah weighed herself Thursday morning, and she was still at her lowest weight since she began eating healthy and losing weight a few months back. So you see? You can 'sin' and still be Badass. 

• Kevin offered insight into what he called "not as much a confession as an attitude" that has him living healthier than before, but allowing himself some splurges. And ya know what? That might just be a virtue, not a sin, because it's all about moderation.

"I've worked out every morning this week -- core exercises one day, cardio the next and so on," Kevin said. "And I drink water all day at work and eat a sensible lunch. And I'm having one Super Big Gulp of regular Coca-Cola on Sundays with pro football  (as opposed to two Super Big Gulps A DAY). But I still eat some chocolate every day."

• My friend Jenn, a teacher in Atlanta, has been using the exercise and eating plan I mapped out for her to get in SexyBadass shape for her sister's wedding. But:

"I had a coke and chips Tuesday, chips and a piece of cake today," she confessed. "And who knows what could happen tomorrow!"

 

• Even Badass Kim Bibeau, whose recent story of getting to the Tour de France after years of being overweight served as inspiration, had something to confess.

"Thursday, I ordered the apple cobbler crisp at Ted's (Montana Grill)," she said. "I was with two other people, but I got real greedy with that cobbler!"

Be greedy, Kim! Sometimes, a Badass needs an indulgence. And I have not ever known someone's Badass to suddenly expand by like eight inches or even one after one piece of cake or cobbler or a meal of fried chicken.

Just practice moderation, Badasses. Be honest with yourselves. And now, every week, you can be honest with the Badass Army and feel the relief that comes with knowing that there is always another Badass out there who also went for the ice cream!

This Confessional is about finding comfort in our own "stumbles" and those of fellow Badasses. This whole fitness and healthy eating thing is not a walk in the park. It doesn't come in a pill. You can't inject it. It takes work. And sometimes, we stumble before we get stronger.

So keep at it, and remember: An apple cobbler doesn't get you kicked out of the Badass Army.

Coming next week: Get your SexyShoulders, SexyBack. Let's All Hail Greek Yogurt! And recruit your kiddies to the Badass Army!