The other day I was thinking about the New Year’s Resolutions I made in January. Well, actually, one in particular: Lose the college fifteen.
I haven’t really talked a whole lot about it here, but 2013 has been a pretty difficult year. Roman and I started “trying” for a baby in August of 2012. After five months of no success, we started seeing a new doctor in January of 2013. For this entire year, I have been taking different types and doses of hormones, and gone through all sorts of testing. Between the weight gain that naturally accompanies artificial hormones, the stress of all of it, and a knee surgery in the middle…….I think I can say with complete confidence that I have totally bombed out with that resolution.
And that’s okay. Trust me, the last thing I need is to beat myself up over a few extra pounds gained. But here lately, I’ve come to the realization that what my mind really needs is something other than babies to focus on. And so I turned my attention towards healthiness, because that seemed like a nice thing to focus on. That, and the fact that I’m about to have to buy new jeans because my current pairs almost don’t fit anymore. Ahem.
Roo at Neon Fresh wrote this post about how we should aim for progress instead of perfection. Her main point was, why wait until January 1st to change something in your life when you can start today? What happens so often—and let’s use weight gain as an example—is we eat a whole lot of junk in the month of December and just use the excuse of “I’m going on a diet in January!!!!!” as an excuse. Congratulations, using that logic I would now have 25 pounds to lose instead of just 20.
Over the past few months I have tried and failed (miserably) at starting a workout routine. My knee is fine….other than not being able to sit on my knees for a long period of time or sit cross-legged, I can’t tell that I ever had a knee surgery. So blaming the lack of exercise on my knee is no longer an option. Sure, I’ve been busy. But there really isn’t a time of the year when I’m NOT busy. And if I were being honest, I spend a whoooooole lot of time in front of the TV throughout the week. Precious time that could be spent on improving my health.
Which is why I finally made the impromptu decision to start back last week. Right now I’m working through 42 Days to Fit by Brandy Ferguson, Stacy Karen and Emma Swanston. This is one of the eBooks I bought in The Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle. The program is really designed for women, but I’m pretty sure the men could just tack on a few more reps and it would work just as well.
I’m kind of sort of excited, kind of sort of nervous, and kind of sort of regretting it due to my current lack of being able to move due to muscle soreness. While I was “doing the dance” this morning to fit into my jeans (don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about), I sort of panicked for a minute. Thoughts like, “How in the world am I going to have time for this?” “Can I really stop eating ridiculous amounts of chocolate every day?” “Is this going to be something I can make into a habit?” “Do I really possess that kind of self-control?” flooded my mind and I was really close to just giving up right there in my closet. But then I remembered, I don’t have to have the whole future planned out, I just need to do what I can for today and worry about tomorrow when tomorrow gets here.
Here are some tips/thoughts on how I plan to be successful this time around:
1. Drink lots of water. LOTS of water. I’ve never been a big water drinker. I <3 Diet Coke and coffee and water is just so bland in comparison. But it is a scientific fact that sodas directly cause weight gain, among other problems (yes, even the Diet drinks) so this is one area that I must improve in. I just finished downing my second 16 oz. water bottle. I drank about 8 oz. first thing in the morning—even before I had my coffee, and I’ve been sipping on cold water the rest of the day. This one is easy for the most part, and completely free. Have there been times over the weekend that I wanted a Diet Coke? YES. And I did cave once, but I can say that I have been drinking a whole lot more water overall just in the last three days.
2. Only worry about today. I already said this one, but it’s a biggy so I’m going to expound on it a little bit. If I think about everything I have to do over the next week, my mind is overwhelmed. I’ve got worship practices. A Christmas Banquet. A concert. Church. Work. I could easily look at the next week and say, “Nope. There is just too much going on. I’ll start next week.” But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m focusing on today. I have a practice tonight at 7:30. I’ll probably be there until about 9:15 or 9:30. Which means my strength training will have to be either in between work and practice, or after practice. Past that, I ate a healthy breakfast and lunch, and I have a healthy dinner planned for tonight as well. Done. Today was a good day. I’ll worry about tomorrow when I wake up tomorrow.
3. Running is awesome. Okay, you may not think so, but I do. And if there is a certain fitness activity that you love, then do it often! Running is a HUGE stress reliever for me, so I’m going to do my best to make sure that my twenty minutes of cardio three times a week is spent running. It will help me look forward to doing it instead of dreading it, and that’s more than half the battle. Think about something you would love: cycling, jump rope, swimming, jumping on a trampoline….and then do what you love for exercise! Working out doesn’t have to be boring!
4. Sleep more. I’m terrible at this one. I usually go to bed between 11:30 and midnight every night and then I’m up at 6 in the morning. So if I fall asleep right when I go to bed, I’m getting six hours of sleep. That’s the bare minimum requirement for sleep time. I haven’t figured this one out just yet, but I’m going to be doing my best to get some more shut eye.
5. Keep healthy snacks in the house. I bought a pomegranate the other day, and ate it instead of chocolate when I wanted a sweet fix. If I hadn’t had that in my fridge though, I almost certainly would have eaten the chocolate. You can’t choose the healthier option if you don’t have the healthier option in your fridge. It’s that simple.
6. Don’t do it by yourself. Is there someone else in your life that is willing to get fit with you? Roman is working through this plan with me. He’s helping me to make healthier choices and stick to my workout plan. Trust me, it is SO much easier when you have someone helping you and encouraging you!
7. Pray. Seriously, pray. God wants us to exercise our bodies so that we can be healthy. He wants us to have self-control when we sit down at the dinner table. So ask Him for help! Ask Him to give you strength to say no to junk food and for the self-control to eat and exercise responsibly.
Please know, I’m not a certified fitness person, so I am definitely not an expert. And it has only been a week, so this could all be a bunch of hoopla….only time will tell! But it’s exciting to think that as everyone else starts their weight loss endeavors on January 1st, I will already be four weeks in with mine! (And hopefully I won’t be “doing the dance” as much by then….)
What about you? Is there something you’ve been putting off that you could start tackling today? Don’t keep pushing it off just so you can call it a New Year’s Resolution!
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” ~Matthew 6:34
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