Does Beating Your Children Count as Cardio?

So, our week of prayer and fasting is complete, there is food in my body again and my weight rose a little from my fasted weigh-in last Friday. One thing that I have noticed over the past week or so with this challenge of mine is that while I am not focused on my weight, never a healthy thing, I have become more aware of any sort of exercise that I am involved in, and more importantly how it affects me. I have become more conscious of things like heart rate, not just to make sure I have one, but how quickly the old ticker is ticking. I haven't put the title of this post to the test by the way, in case anyone calls child protective services. But I have noticed that I have become more careful with my food intake, with my exercise activities and with scheduling my week to try to include some form of exercise - all good things.

What has been eye opening to me is that while I set myself this challenge and wasn't sure how I was really going to attempt it, I have made choices. Choices that will ultimately over time help me achieve it, or choices that will ultimately help me fail in my quest.

Why does everything in life come down to choices? Why does everything that we say, do, achieve, fail at come down to the choices that we make? Why do we not understand that simple fact? If we make better choices then we put ourselves in a better position to succeed. Now I know that things outside of our control can occur, and we cannot choose for them, but here is the kicker, when the unexpected happens, the important thing is how we choose to react to the unexpected.

I chose to exercise this morning. I chose how hard to push myself. I chose when to stop. I chose what to eat and drink when I returned home. Did I choose wisely?

My 210 in 2010 challenge is not ultimately about my weight loss, that is the vehicle I have chosen to try to inspire people. My challenge is about inspiring people to help those who, by no choice of their own, are unable to support themselves or their families.

You have a choice too. You can choose to help me reach my goal and choose a new path for a child somewhere by going to Compassion International and following the process of sponsoring a child. Or if that is too big a choice at this time then you can join my 210 in 2010 Cause and DONATE to Compassion International by clicking the DONATE button and following the information there.

While I would love for you all to choose option A, or even Option B, there is a third option which is equally as valid. Option C is that you choose to tell one of your co-workers this week about my Cause and about the work that groups like Compassion International are doing.

What do you choose?

P.S. if you really want to count beating your kids as cardio you need to do it for at least 30 minutes - and that is wrong, isn't it?

So what's your choice?