Lifestyle Change & Maintenance

It's confession time. I am finding that when I am not on a regular routine, I tend to not be very motivated to keep up healthy habits. For example, my average weekly exercise has been about 3.5 to 7 miles. That's in a week. Okay, that doesn't count me tramping up and down hill and dale to work and back again, but there have been a lot of times I've been lazy and rationalized that I needed to drive my car to work, for whatever teeny tiny reason I could come up with.

Then there's the whole eating thing. I did really well when I skipped suppers for a month. My blood sugars came down, I slept better at night, I enjoyed my other meals more. Granted my stomach hurt really bad for the first three weeks, because it wasn't used to being empty, but I was pleased with the end results. Then life got hectic.

My biggest challenge I believe is figuring out how to keep on track when life gets hectic. I tend to be too thoughtful of my need for quiet time and rest, so instead of prioritizing healthy meals and keeping up the exercise, because I know I can't keep it at the same level of intensity and commitment that I'm used to doing when life is easy, I decide to let it all slide. Not the best of decisions, I can assure you.

I have a lot of excuses, it seems, for not making an effort. There was graduation, my sister left, now they're paving the road, then I'll be studying for a couple of weeks, then it will get crazy busy hectic at work again. So realistically, in about 3 months is when I may finally feel like my life is settling down long enough for me to get back to what I know works.

I'm not content to wait that long, though. My 33rd birthday is coming up really quickly, much faster than I'd like to see it, and I shall be making some serious goals on that day. When I do, I think I'll need to include a few along these lines:

• Commit to daily exercise. If I can't get a whole hour in, get half an hour in. If I can't get half an hour in, walk around the Loop twice. Make that my very minimum on days when I can't manage more.
• Indulge in tasty whole plant foods. I recognize that my diet is heavy on the carbs and starches and while it is necessary not to skimp in those areas to keep sustained weight loss, the bulk of my diet should be coming from beans and fruits and vegetables. All I need to do is find some delicious quick easy recipes.
• Prioritize adequate sleep. This will go right along with. . .
• Put my laptop to sleep before I do. I think that's the hardest thing to do for me. It's so easy to waste hours on Facebook, watch cooking reality shows on YouTube, or even blog! I rationalize that I'm "connecting," or "learning," or being "creative." And while all of those are true to a degree, what is more important than getting lost in a virtual world is shutting down technology and taking time for myself, whether reading a book, spending time with God, or getting to bed early.

Perhaps the key to lifestyle change lies in this:

Lifestyle change is about doing the things that make me happy and are also good for me.