Saturday Sampler: Habit Forming

The easier it is to do, 

the harder it is to change. 

~Eng's Principle

A few weeks ago I decided I would move slowly into building some good habits. I thought the first one to tackle would be working out consistently. I wasn't going to go any where near diet or food restriction figuring it would be harder to do. While compartmentalizing can be a successful method, I am three weeks into this and realizing while I have increased my workouts (still far from consistent), but I have moved from regular eating to irregular eating, normal sleep to irregular sleep. I have been working a ton, and the bad habits were almost formed out of my one good one. I had gone to the gym a few times at 8:45 PM which lead to eating late and being up late. Super Hubby is a late bird. He can stay up past 11PM or 12PM without a problem. I on the other hand can be in bed by 8:30 with the kids. Back to the story, ok so these few occasions of eating and watching TV after a night work out made me realize I could stay up late and that I enjoyed hanging out watching the Parenthood TV series on Netflix with my hubby. Next thing you know I am skipping the workout and just staying up late watching TV and around 10 or 11 deciding it is snack time, or full on 2nd dinner time. Screech! Time to put the breaks on that one. In my mini defense my shoulder thing has prevented me from feeling up to any kind of workout lately, but I digress.

Now in addition to trying to make working out a more consistent part of my life I will also add not eating late. What does that mean exactly? Most days it is not a problem to not eat after 8PM. I know there are different schools of thought regarding when to stop eating, but I think 8PM is very reasonable for me. On a great day I'll decide that I won't eat after dinner and that may push the time to closer to 7PM. I will deviate from time to time say for example if I go to the gym late or am out late with friends (rare occasion). This should help as the last 2 weeks have been filled with any thing from Weinerschnitzel at 10PM to chocolate-chocolate chip cheesecake at midnight or a bowl of cereal at 11PM.

At my chiropractor this week I got a nice little lecture on hydrating and a really nice tip. He said, attach drinking water to something you already do. A specific action. He chooses meals. He drinks a glass of water before he eats and a glass of water after. It may not be his daily goal in take, but it helps. This activity usually provides him with support via friends and family who know that is what he wants to accomplish at each meal. I am pretty consistent about having lunch with Superhubby so I am going to try and have a glass of water before and after lunch. I already just drink water at dinner, but as it turns out, it is usually the only time of day I drink water. I keep a water bottle at my desk at work, but rarely use it. I may shift to trying to drink a glass of water before I leave the house for work each morning. Maybe fill it the night before and set my car keys next to the glass, something like that.

On a positive note I am doing well taking my multivitamin and B complex everyday and recently added a probiotic. While I have a jug of Keifer in the fridge, a little probiotic boost has helped. The vitamins I am not so consistent with are my Omega-3s and my Calcium. Both are in chewy form and don't fit into my pill box. I 100% understand and agree that nutrients should come from a clean and natural food source, but I am not there yet and vitamins help bridge that gap.

Why I Kick A$$: Because I keep trying.

The Big Picture: Health is work, it takes effort and re-evaluation to be successful.

Thankful Three:

1. For FB friends and family who encourage me to active
2. For my kids who are being so cooperative today
3. For waking up feeling ready to add to my healthy habits by not eating late