Habit Building

​It’s my birthday month!  Woohoo!!  It’s time to celebrate!

Ok, maybe there won’t be huge celebrations, but I’m going to claim the month as my own!

On December first I took the ‘this is a new year approach.    I didn’t wait for December first, it just so happened that my mind clicked on December first.  It wasn’t until about the third that I realized that I started over on a new month.

So what does my start over entail?  My start over at this exact moment is not hardcore.  It is tracking everything I eat. Good bad and ugly tracking.  I had not tracked through October or November.   This starting over is me working to get my water consumption back to a proper level.  My water consumption has been woefully lacking! And for right now that it is.  

Of course I know that living a healthy lifestyle involves a bit more than those two things.  It involves choosing healthier options in terms of my food consumption.  It involves adding more steps/activity/exercise into my life. And yes, those two things are probably more important than the tracking.  But I am building healthy habits right now. 

Tracking is one of the most important habits to build, for me at least.  This is for two reasons.  The first reason is that when  I’m not tracking I tend to eat more….and more….and more.  I eat and THINK I am eating decently.  But it’s crazy how many points/calories I am really eating!  I am still planning on following weight watchers.  I have had incredible success with their program in the past….and even in September when I was doing it I was seeing signs of success.   On the first of December I started tracking my food in the WW app.  I wasn’t aiming to be perfect in my food consumption…my goal was to track..to get in the habit of tracking.  I didn’t think it would be all that bad.  I wasn’t eating horrible!  I get 31 points a day…and I was hitting 55-60 points each day!  Yikes!     That brings me to the second reason why tracking is important for me.  Tracking is important because it makes me make healthier choices…it makes me more cognizant of my choices.   Slowly and without any real effort I have been seeing my daily points that I’ve consumed start to drop.  Yesterday I was only 6 points over.    Perfect?  Not at all, but much better than being 28 points over my daily budget.

We had a good weekend.  I worked on Friday after work and Saturday morning to get stuff done (groceries, laundry, errands, etc). On Saturday afternoon Jason and I drove up to check out the REI closest to where we live now.  And a nice little extra, there was a dollhouse store only a 2-3 miles from that REI!  I found a pair of bike shorts that were an incredible sale!  (70% off original price). They are a normal short but have a bike short insert.  At the dollhouse store I was able to control my impulses!  I wanted SO many things!  But, I only got three items and those three items were things I needed for a dollhouse scene that I am working on.  When we headed home we decided to stay off the interstate and we ended up stopping at Pine Grove State Park.   We couldn’t hike or do too much as Jason is still wearing a surgical boot…and can’t walk much without pain.  But we walked for a wee bit and we have vowed to go back.  (The Appalachian Trail goes through the park…so definitely good hiking!). 

On Sunday I spent time in the morning with my mom.  It is so difficult to see your parents age and to watch their health decline.  Mom is still struggling with the after affects of the stroke. (Physical mobility) and another condition that affects cognitive abilities. (Which the stroke also affects ). As hard as it is to see your mom barely able to walk even with assistance, It is so much harder to sit there and hear your mom struggle for something as simple as remembering what day of the month her daughter was born.  (FYI she got it wrong). 

After time with mom I drove south and spent a few hours geocaching with a long time friend. (Since we were about 12 years old).  It was a good thing.    

Monday…and back to work and the normal grind.  Still tracking…still working on my water consumption.  And gearing up for my birthday weekend!  I know that there will be cookies. It is my birthday cookie that my mom makes once a year…on my birthday.   I have the recipe and I will be attempting them this year.   

So this week has cookie making, a trip to the podiatrist for Jason’s foot, and of course my 50th birthday.

My weight?  I’m sticking to the water and tracking goal.  I don’t have a timeframe for actually adding in the next healthy habit/routine.  It will most likely be next week.  i want to have at least one of my habits a routine before adding a new habit.  I will be almost two weeks into tracking at that point…so I think I should be ready.  Water…well I’m still struggling with that!  But hey, I’m getting better, just a long way from being in a routine /habit with it!