Like Betty, I have issue when something comes up and messes up my schedule. I have a LOT going on. When school starts again next week, my schedule will be very regimented.

Mondays, work then practice from 7-9.
Tuesday, work then school from 7:15-9:45.
Wednesday, same as Monday.
Thursday, school from 9:30-12, then telework/homework (I have to telework because there's no way I can work 10 hours a day the other days; I'd lose my mind - I have to get in 40 hours each week), then school again from 7:15-9:45.
Friday, work and maybe a little bit of a breather in the evening.
Sunday nights we have practice from 6-8.

I try to get in my long runs and big workouts on Saturdays because it's the one day I have nothing planned, though I usually have to do stuff around the house, which I'm really bad about. I also need to plan my meals for the week (twice a week I'm away from home all day until late; gotta have food or fall trap to fast food or other bad choices), make sure homework's done... oh and I commute over an hour EACH WAY to work. So yeah, I don't have much time or tolerance for delays or crises.

With all that, I have to make sure I eat somewhat healthy, take care of my skin/hair/body, do other exercise besides skating, spend time with my husband, and SLEEP. Usually I sleep in on one weekend day. It helps me get through the week when I know I have that one day to crash out with no alarm clock.

I'm also easily tempted by foods like chips, soda, candy, cookies, etc. I have a really hard time turning down treats and sometimes I just crave that salty, crunchy, fatty snack like a bag of Fritos. Pretzels and hummus don't always fit the bill. High sodium foods are probably my biggest weakness. I have to keep that stuff out of my house so I'm not tempted. However, I've slacked off in the last few months and we've got all kinds of stuff that needs to go. My husband is overweight (has been as long as I've known him) and sedentary, which doesn't help. He's not that interested in eating well so he often brings home things from the store that I would rather not have around. However, he just went to the doctor recently and has to have some blood work re-done (cholesterol and so forth). This might be the catalyst towards better eating... I don't wish him to be in danger of anything, but I can't help but hope that they will suggest he start eating better.

Whew - that was a novel!!!

Oh challenges and weaknesses... don't we all just love them so?

I'm an eater - emotional, bored, habit, stress, emotional (yea, its a big one it's on there twice), and excitement. I'm also an over-eater. Not helpful.

I'm a procrastinator or excuse maker. I always find reason NOT to do something good for me. Like Anya though, once I start doing something I get way into it and feel great. It's like I have that hormone that makes you forget the bad parts of pregnancy ... only different. I forget the good parts of exercise.

Big excuse - I wake up at 3am everyday for work, get home around 2 and am in bed at 8-9pm. It's hard to workout between 2-8 but I think I have a way to make it work. I don't go home first, I go straight to the park to get my walk on. What what?!

I have no problems with healthy food - I freakin' love veggies and am currently having a love affair with kale, but it's a difficult thing to pass up those tasty snacks. MFP has definitely helped me take a second to think about what I'm going to put in my mouth. I always add it to my list before I eat it to see if it's worth the sacrifice of calorie or fat or sodium or whatever. That is helping a bit. It's also difficult to eat healthy when my fiance is already getting in great shape from reffing (yea, he's kicking *kitten* lately at practice) and doesn't necessarily want to eat the stuff I am.

I let other people de-motivate me. They aren't doing anything in particular, but for the fear of being left out I choose to skip the exercise time to go out to breakfast or some other meal. My fiance is a big one. I'd much rather hang out on the couch with him (especially if I haven't seen him in a day or so) than go for my walk or whatever. I need to have him go with me or push me or something.

No matter the challenge or excuse, I'm just going to have to push through and make this happen. I'm 26 and now its time for me to enjoy a new healthy lifestyle.

You know, that brought up a good point. Negative feedback from yourself - we all do it. I'm super duper guilty of it. "you're too big, people will laugh if you walk the 5K" blah blah blah bull-honkey!

So that's a huge challenge to work on and I suggest we all work on it together.

Challenges? my derby life style! That is why I joined this group! I need to know how derby gals do it!!! Between eating late after late practices, afterparties, the drinking...I do ok until I step foot inside any food establishment. I can have the BEST intentions and as soon as I look at the menu, my eyes go straight to burger and fries, wings, nacho's..... damn it!!!!! so, plzzzzzze friend me and HELP ME!!! sound desperate enuff??? LOL! thnx

I have WAAAAY more than one. Here goes...*sigh*

Definitely not eating enough/only eating one meal a day and having that meal be something unhealthy and a ridiculous portion size.

I also have a major, MAJOR sweet tooth (it used to be three 'majors' as a teenager, lol, so it's gone down somewhat), so eating 2 pints of ice cream was normal behavior for me. Then again, so was never being able to do a plank.

Negative self-talk (well, that's in all sections of my life, but let's stick with fitness and derby for now) and social anxiety. My social anxiety is holding me back from joining a league itself, while my negative self-talk sometimes puts a halt on my neighborhood skating.

And finally, because I can't think of any more at the moment, money. Always. It's always easier to buy things that are unhealthy, am I right? At least for this one, I've figured out a workaround. I found a market that sells good food at great prices...all I need now is willpower and dedication!!

I initially thought (and wrote in the homework) that the meal plan was going to be my biggest challenge. I was sort of right, because it killed me over the first week until I took a good hard look at it, and decided it just wasn't for me. Since ditching the plan, I've gone back to eating my normal, relatively healthy, low-sugar, low refined-carbs, lots-of-veg routine. Yes I stuff up (a few ciders over a weekend, oops), but I don't beat myself up over it too much, because I know I've been pretty good the rest of the time.

The real challenge for me has been, and will continue to be, the working out. Most of week 1 I found it hard to do anything because I was so low on energy due to not eating enough calories. Since fixing that, it's because I'll go really hard one day, then the next will be too sore to even more (damn those pushups!). Staying motivated to move and workout day after day is going to be my biggest challenge.

I also have issues with that little annoying voice in my head that tells me I can't do something. "Your muscles are starting to burn, so don't worry about doing the other 20 reps!", "You're already sweating, you don't really need to practice any more laps of crossovers in the carpark". She can be very persuasive, and I need to learn to block it out before I can be successful in this challenge, and in derby!