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.
