Creating Habits - Habit # 1

They say it takes six weeks of doing some consecutively in order to develop a habit. So, after some discussion with my missionary life coach at HQ, we've come up with a plan to create some great habits for me.

Earlier this year, I had a complete meltdown in Mexico. Culture stress hit, big time. I've done a lot of thinking about it over the last couple months and now believe I understand why.

(1) Lack of exercise. In general, I was flat out not taking care of myself physically. And when you're exhausted and out of shape, that takes a toll.

(2) Lack of devotions. Once again, I let the daily devotions slide. I've been a Christian a long time to know that this leads to many unhealthy attitudes.

So, already, I was spiritually, physically, and emotionally exhausted, everything running out but nothing going back in.

(3) Lack of confidence with Spanish. If you're going to live in a foreign country, you have to be able to speak the language, preferably with confidence. (Or at least with gumption.) Even if you're making mistakes while doing it. (Especially if you're making mistakes.) The more confidence I lacked, the more hesitant I was to speak. And this made simple, every day life--even just leaving my house--a huge ordeal in my mind.

With these in mind, we've come up with a plan to shore up all three of these areas. It is my personal belief that, once this is accomplished, I'll be better equipped to handle stresses that come my way.

Habit # 1 -

These next six weeks, until the middle of October, my goal is to get in 5 days a week of 30-45 minute exercise (45 minutes is preferable). I'm also trying to work on drinking 8-8 oz glasses of water every day. Some websites say I should be drinking as much as 100 oz of water a day (!!), but when you're drinking 4 oz a day, working up to 64 is a big enough task. My eventual goal is to work up to drinking 12-8 oz glasses of water a day. Finally, I'm logging calories again on Myfitnesspal, something I detest, but at the same time, it helps me to see what's going in and what's coming out. Plus, it helps me to ensure I'm not getting too much daily sodium, which is something my doctor wanted me to monitor. I made a calendar for each month, and each of these three mini goals gets a different colored sticker. This way, I can look at the calendar and see at a glance which mini goals I've met and which I haven't.

Once I have successfully logged six complete weeks of weekly exercise (where I hit my goal of exercising 5 out of 7 days) AND have lost 10 pounds, I get to buy a small jar candle from Yankee Candle. For every 10 pounds lost after that, I get to buy another small jar candle. (Troy and I discussed these and have agreed on the rewards.)

We will be back in Mexico City next summer---if not fully funded ready to begin a new term of service (please, God!)---for the big 25th anniversary in July. I would absolutely love to go back 50 pounds lighter, with only 30 pounds to go to reach my final goal. (And that's keeping to a very modest monthly weight loss. I could completely reach my goal before the end of June if I kicked it up a notch. Something to consider--especially as I originally wanted to reach my goal weight before my 40th birthday next July.)

So for now, this is the habit I'm working on establishing. Next up, regular daily devotions for longer than 10 minutes.

Working to Get Back on Track

If I'm honest, I was at my healthiest in Costa Rica. Walking every day, eating out only once a week, then eating fresh, healthy food during the rest of the week really helped me slim down. Not nearly as much as I needed to (that dratted sprained ankle really came at a bad time, when I was just gaining momentum), of course.

While we didn't eat out a whole lot more, not walking every day once we got to Mexico and had the use of a car, really made a difference.

Then, throw in a huge amount of stress as we transitioned back to the States for our furlough year as well as a LOT of eating out and sitting in a car traveling for long hours at a time.

Yikes.

So today, after completing 2 miles with Leslie Sansone and a stretchy band, I hopped onto the Wii Fit board for a baseline weight reading. It was not what I wanted to see, of course. Actually, it was the same as it was at last month's doctor's checkup. And following the checkup, we spent 10 days at a camp where we were very well fed, followed by more travel and transition. So, either I gained and then lost weight back to that amount, or I maintained throughout that entire month of irregular eating. Either sounds good to me. Point is, I have a baseline to work down from.

The thing that really annoyed me this morning, however, was the Wii Fit voice. Anyone who has ever weighed in on the Wii fit board (and have pounds to lose) will understand when I complain about that obnoxious little voice that always cries, "Oh!!" when you step on the board. Like you're this enormous 2-ton Goliath instead of a 200-lb woman. It's very insulting and not in the least encouraging. Apparently, her mother never told her that if she didn't have anything nice to say, she shouldn't say anything at all.

Already, I'm missing my digital scale in Mexico. At least it didn't talk back to me.

End of February Weigh-In

Lost another 1.5 pounds this week (last week I didn't exercise and had gained just a little bit), weighing in at 182.

While it would be awesome if that number was higher, that was only with walking 8 miles this week (for the bigger numbers, I think I'll have to get in my full 12). I also know I'd speed up this process if I restricted my diet, but as this is more of a lifestyle change and NOT a diet, I'd rather not. I think increasing my level of exercise and eating a variety of foods (within limits, of course. Can't lose weight if I eat fast food every day or even several times a week) will be easier to maintain once I reach my goal weight. My ultimate goal, after all, is to be a new healthier me by the time I reach my 40th birthday.

I am a mere 2 pounds from my driver's license weight and a mere 7 pounds from what I weighed when we got married. Awesome!

A Big Week

Last week, when I weighed in, I was pleased to discover I hadn't gained back too much weight after leaving Costa Rica.

This week, I'm excited to say that I am a mere 3 pounds away from the weight I've claimed to be on my driver's license for the last 12 years. Looks like my ultimate goal of weighing 125 pounds by the end of September is actually in reach.

Today, I weighed 183 pounds. I will continue to do weekly weigh-ins each Friday. On the last day of each month, I will have Troy measure me to chart how many inches I've been losing as well.

First Mexico Weigh-In

Since arriving in Mexico back in August, I knew I'd put back on some weight (my face is fuller and my pants aren't as loose as they were in March before I sprained my ankle). But I'm not walking absolutely EVERYWHERE (on hills even) anymore, so it's little wonder.

Well, Troy finally bought a scale today and I stepped on it with no small amount of fear and trembling. The shocking news? I'm the same weight I was in May, the last time I'd posted my weight on my blog--190. And I'm only 2 pounds heavier than at my lowest weight in March. So I guess I haven't been doing too badly after all!

I've been doing 40-45 minutes of a walking DVD pretty sporadically (my goal is to do it 5 days a week), and we're still pretty much only eating out on weekends, when we do eat out.

I have a goal of losing 15 pounds by March 1. It might be an impossible goal, but I want to give it a shot.