WLJ: Changing habits

Last week was my first back to work after a glorious holiday break, which began at noon on Dec. 22 and ended at 8 a.m. on Jan. 2.  I know a lot of people still had that Monday off, but I had no right to whine about that.  Not with all of last week off.  So I kept my mouth shut.  I was kind of ready to get back in a normal routine anyway.  That might sound odd, but I truly am a creature of habit.  Routines bring me peace.

That said, this week was a complete departure from most weeks past.  I'm changing some things in my lifestyle as I continue to strive toward being healthy ...

-  Earlier bedtime.  I used to stay up until eleven, midnight ... or later.  Every night this week, I've been in bed no later than 10:30.  Last night I was so tired, I crawled under the covers at 9:45.  My body still hasn't adapted to these changes.  It takes me a good while to fall asleep.  But I still get a more restful sleep (for the most part), and I don't have as much trouble with my alarm in the morning.  Win! ((Confession: I'm not sure how I'll keep this going once baseball season starts.))

- Workout 4-5 times a week.  Last week, I went to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I took Tuesday off because I was dealing with nasty computer issues.  I didn't sleep well that night.  Lesson learned.  I made up for that night off by checking out the Zumba class on Saturday morning.  It was so much fun!! The perfect way to spend a Saturday morning.

- Better breakfast.  I usually just eat yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast.  I need to start doing more in the mornings.  I've been adding a piece of fruit this week.  Thursday, for example, I had cinnamon toast on whole wheat bread, a banana and greek yogurt.  So good.  And it kept me full most of the morning.  I had a handful of almonds for a mid-morning snack, but I wasn't starving at lunch time.  I want to try doing more green smoothies. I tried to do one Friday --- mixed and blended it Thursday night.  But I put it in the freezer to keep, and naturally, it was too solid for Friday morning consumption.  Fail.  I'll try again this week.

- Stop with the fast food.  In the past, on days I've been starving (read: not good about breakfast), the drive thru was much more appealing than going home and waiting until I could prepare something.  Those days need to be less frequent.  See what I did there?  I'm not cutting out fast food entirely, but I need to cut it down to one or two times a month instead of one or two times a week.

I managed all of these very well for the first week.  I've heard you have to keep a routine for three weeks before it becomes a TRUE routine.  So we'll see how I do.

For more motivation, I joined the 10-pound Challenge hosted by Newlyweds on a Budget. Lose 10 pounds in 12 weeks, win $$$. Are you in?

Why not?

Weight-loss goal: 40 lbs.
This week's progress: -1.4 lbs.
Progress to date: -13.6 lbs.
Non-scale victory: I stepped a bit out of my comfort zone and went to that Zumba class on Saturday.  I loved it.  I can't wait to go back this week.