New Year, Resolutions
About 3 days ago, my wife said to me, "Aren't you going to blog again?! [A mutual friend] has been asking..." I'm stunned to see that my last blog entry was about 3 weeks ago! I'm so sorry! I'll do my best to get you up to speed:
The folks finally left and we pawned four plates of Christmas cookies off on our (at least externally) greatful neighbors. ("Happy Holidays! Looks like you could use a little MEAT on your bones! Have some cookies!")
A few days of being disgusted with myself and my weight gain ended January 1st. I'm not sure what it is about a new year that spawns new beginnings, be it the "fresh slate" mentality or what have you, but Jan 1, my wife and I seemed to wake up refocused and have been building better habits (with some minor deviations to be confessed in a few paragraphs) ever since.
New Habit Numero Uno: For those of you unfortunate enough to suffer through my blog since its beginning, you may remember I was ambushed by a friend and tricked into attending what I affectionately called "my fat class in the church basement". (You can read up on my initial thoughts here.) While I'm not re-enrolling, I did locate my textbook, and have been religiously reading portions of it daily. It's remarkable what a little daily encouragement and reminders can do to help one stay on track. (Amazing insights, to be sure!)
One of the primary thrusts of the book is that the farther a food has been processed from it's natural state, the less healthy it is for you. When I think about it, it makes total sense. Even "good" foods can be processed beyond their usefulness. One way or another, you body has to process what you put into it. You body naturally knows how to deal with a carrot, but what sort of chemical gymnastics must it have to perform in order to metabolize Polysorbate 60, Phenylalanine, or Methylchloroisothiazolinone? (I can just hear Tawa Chihuahua smiling and sending me an affectionate "DUH!")
What has this lead to? We're EATING SO MUCH BETTER and therefore we FEEL SO MUCH BETTER! And that's not even counting the satisfaction that we're just treating our bodies better. It's been truly remarkable.
New Habit #2: We're both working out. My wife has rediscovered her pilates DVDs and has been exercising at least as much as me. She's showing much more dramatic results than I am in the arena of physical changes, so my jealousy is tempered by the simple fact... that she's lookin' HOT! (GrrrrRRRRrrr!!) Having a workout buddy (even if we're not doing it at the same time) is such a shot in the arm.
New Habit #3: I'm getting to bed on time. TV is a robber. It robs me of my time and sleep, and therefore prevents me from accomplishing what I know I need to do. I've been flicking off the tube and in some cases, getting to sleep before 10pm (which is practically unheard of for me during adulthood). This has enabled me to get up early (many days waking up before my alarm goes off!) in order to get my workouts in and plan decent breakfast and lunch before either of my little ladies start tugging at me. When I'm home and they're awake, I want to dedicate as much of my attention to them as I can, therefore, exercise gets pushed to the background. The only time I've found to consistently be "mine" is either late at night (and my personal history demonstrates that late-nite is not a time when my good habits shine), or early morning. The "early to bed, early to rise proverb" seems to be working...
I haven't weighed in a week or so, but at last check, I was back in the 250s. Yay. I'd be thrilled to be in the 230s by vacation time, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll just do what I can.
Best wishes to you all. Thanks for the loving kicks in the pants, too! I deserve it! I'll be checking in with you when I can.
