Hey guys, thanks for all the compliments on my dress. I hope my hubby has the same thoughts! =)

I've been thinking a lot lately about next month. Aiden & I are planning to leave IA on the 8th to drive down to TN. We'll be staying with my friend and her son. We decided to go down then even though Jon still won't be home until mid-Sept. Her husband deploys to Iraq on the 7th, so this will help her from being lonely too. I was thinking about how I was going to keep up with my diet & workout routine while there. I was talking to her on the phone and I've got her convinced to do BFL! She asked what she needs to buy to get ready for it and I told her just to get the book and read it. I know that's what got me excited. The only thing I'm worried about is that she's going to see me doing things a bit differently and I don't want her to try and change the program. She's looking to lose about 35lbs and I'd like for her to stick to the program before trying to make tweaks. It will be hard to explain to her that it's totally fine and GOOD to eat a potato at dinner....yet I'm not. Know what I'm saying? Why would I tell her it's ok if I'm not? That may be very hard to explain. It's just that I've lost the weight and I'm just looking to lean down right now. How exactly will I explain to her why I'm cutting down on dairy and not eating starchy carbs later in the day....or how I'm trying not to eat after 6pm when BFL states to eat just before bed if it means getting that 6th meal in. Hmmmm, or why I'm doing a heck of a lot more cardio than 20min 3x/wk. I don't want her to worry about these things in her first challenge. I stuck to those things my 1st challenge and had great results. I just don't want to confuse her.
The great news about this is that I will have a babysitter! We've agreed to be each other's childcare for workouts. I only hope this will work in the morning since I like to workout on an empty stomach. I'm ok with it though, if I have to wait until mid-morning or afternoon. A good workout later in the day is so much better than no workout at all!
My eating has been going great lately. Last week was the best I'd had in a long time and this past free day was probably the best too. I didn't plan any cheat meals, I just grazed on a few things here and there...and I wasn't sick that night! Imagine that. LOL I almost didn't take one but I knew come mid-week I'd be craving something and I'd remember "hey I didn't take one on Sunday so it's ok" and that could lead to a disaster. So, I'm going to add a clean week to the books! One tiny confession, last night I had a couple fireballs, so after all that talk of clean eating I can't say I was 100% yesterday. But other than that, I'm doing GREAT! I will be in wk9 when I drive down to TN and I really want to make the last 3wks good. This is so similar to C1, I was in wk9 when Jon deployed and everything just went to crap! Not this time folks. I WILL finish this challenge with a BANG! I won't let the travel and being away from my normal surroundings destroy my goals! I'm counting on my blends to keep me accountable!!! ;)