BodyPUMP + Prayer Cards + Sweet Temptations

Today's Training
One of the perks of working for the school system I'm in is that our insurance gives us free gym memberships (at participating gyms...)!  Yay!  I just received my membership card, so today was my first day trying out the local YMCA.  I was spoiled living in Athens, GA because Omni Club ROCKS.  I had an awesome trainer, all the classes were awesome, and the facilities were huge with personal TVs on each cardio machine.  Needless to say, I was nervous about this new experience.

I attended BodyPump today.  I got a great workout (as usual with a BodyPump class), but I must say I was a bit disappointed in the instructors and the small space.  The instructors would call a down 3-up 1 rhythm and not follow it.  I just followed the rhythm they called whether or not they were showing it.

Overall, I can't complain much because I'm not paying anything for the gym membership, so I'll certainly enjoy it!  Plus, it's one less workout I have to figure out for myself :)

Faith Find
Let me preface what I'm about to say with this: I pray that everyone in Sandy's path stays safe and that damage is minimal from the storm.

It seems that in times of trial, you hear everyone talk about thinking about and praying for others (i.e. everyone posting about praying for the East Coast and everyone in the path of Hurricane Sandy).  It always makes me think...what would happen if we are constantly in prayer for one another?

I know from experience that praying for others really does something for your own soul.  Also, when you know that others are praying for you (not necessarily for anything specific, but just praying for you in general), that is such a great feeling!

One thing that you can do to help yourself constantly pray for others is by using index cards.  Take a bunch of index cards (even cut them in half to save trees) and just write down the names of anyone that comes to mind.  One name per card!

Source

Then, whenever you pray, draw a cards from your stack and pray for that person on the card.  If they have a need, lift it up.  If you're just thankful for their presence in your life, lift that up!  Whatever you can think of to pray for them, lift it up to God.

For an added bonus, send them a text, e-mail, note, etc. to tell them you're thinking of them and you've been praying for them.  It will put a smile on their face to know that they are cared for and being prayed for.

Many thanks to my youth director, Forrest White, for the prayer card idea!

Diet Tip of the Day
I love to bake.  I love to try new recipes for brownies, cookies, and any sort of sweets.  But, when I bake, I want to gobble up everything I baked!

Yesterday, I found these break-and-bake brownie bites that were Halloween themed.  I thought Joe and I were carving pumpkins with some of our neighbors, so I bought these little morsels to share with them.  But, that fell through and we carved pumpkins ourselves.  I still made these brownie bites, but now I can't stop eating them!

Couldn't you just eat them right up?

Self-control can be challenging for me when it comes to eating.  If people aren't around, I feel like I can eat whatever I want and no one will know.  That's why MyFitnessPal is so great, because it keeps me accountable even if no one's around.  I can enter everything I eat (and be completely honest about it), and I can see what damage I've done to myself.  The trouble is actually entering everything in every day.

Hopefully I can get these sweets out of the house soon (by giving them to people!) and I can get back on track with healthy eating.

Question for you: How do you control yourself when tempted by something tasty?  Help a girl out!