I have had a pretty good start to week 3. Yesterday I got up at 5am and again attended spinning, lifted weights and swam. I felt tired througout each activitiy, but I always feel better as I drive home knowing I could just be waking up right now instead of having burned over 1000 calories.
I have read over and over that if you do something for 2 weeks, it becomes habit. I'm now into week 3 and I feel like I have developed some very good habits. Getting up and heading to workout is no longer as tough as it used to be. I remember less than a month ago how hard it was to get up and out of bed. I always justified that since I work from home--I can just go during the day. Well half the time I got caught up with work and my workouts were sacrificed. I'm glad this has become a pattern in my week to get up and get the workout in before my day "interfered".
Another habit I have developed centers on drinking water. I have a couple of 34oz bottles that I am constantly loading up with ice and it would seem un-natural to head to my upstairs office without my water bottle in tow. My wife has noticed how often I carry these bottles around as I have now found myself carrying them with me in the car. My secret to drinking is ice. I literally fill the bottle three or four times a day with ice and in doing so find myself putting our ice-maker through the daily ringer! Once a day I will add some sugar free/calorie free drink mixes to the bottle to give it a different taste.
I have read over and over that if you do something for 2 weeks, it becomes habit. I'm now into week 3 and I feel like I have developed some very good habits. Getting up and heading to workout is no longer as tough as it used to be. I remember less than a month ago how hard it was to get up and out of bed. I always justified that since I work from home--I can just go during the day. Well half the time I got caught up with work and my workouts were sacrificed. I'm glad this has become a pattern in my week to get up and get the workout in before my day "interfered".
Another habit I have developed centers on drinking water. I have a couple of 34oz bottles that I am constantly loading up with ice and it would seem un-natural to head to my upstairs office without my water bottle in tow. My wife has noticed how often I carry these bottles around as I have now found myself carrying them with me in the car. My secret to drinking is ice. I literally fill the bottle three or four times a day with ice and in doing so find myself putting our ice-maker through the daily ringer! Once a day I will add some sugar free/calorie free drink mixes to the bottle to give it a different taste.
The final comment I wanted to make on habits relates to tempatations. Temptations have become less intimidating. On one hand, I am realistic to know that a bad meal won't sabotage my overall progress. Moreso though, I just find that the temptations aren't as appealing as they recently were. We met some friends for dinner on Friday at a BBQ restaurant that serves incredible steaks! Fortunately, I restrained and ate a grilled chicken salad. The salad was fine and I even felt as I was eating it that I was somehow missing out. Yet, within minutes of finishing when I'm full I just feel so much better knowing I made a good choice, I'm full with healthy food and my self-confidence instantly grows.
I decided early on that I was going to have one free meal each week where I ate whatever I wanted. I can't tell you what a great pshchological boost having that meal to look forward to is. It makes passing on desserts much easier. Needless to say, I enjoyed a great meal Saturday courtesy of Red Robin! By Sunday, I was re-energized and happy to decline dessert at my MIL's.
Last night I went running after everyone settled down. I only went two miles but I kept a 10min/mi pace and felt good. I was worried about how the late night run would impact my basketball game this morning--and I'm happy to say there were no ill-effects from the run. I had a lot of energy today and really enjoyed playing hard.
Finally, my favorite moment occurred this morning. For years I made myself a goal that I would never allow myself to breach the 250lbs mark. That was "off-limits". Yet a couple of years ago I crashed through that barrier and kept going. In fact I went all of the way up to 267lbs! Totally embarassing. I'm happy to state that when I hopped on the scale today I clocked in at 252.2. Overall I hit the 15lbs mark. Needless to say I'm eyeing the 250lbs mark with concerted intent. Today after I finished my workout I got on the scale and registered in at 249.2lbs. I was absolutely thrilled to see a 4 as the second number. I realize the weight doesn't count as I only register weigh-ins first thing in the morning. But still, I know I'm close. It has been probably 18 months since I weighed this low. I can't emphasize the boost this simple win has given me.
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