Off the wagon and 5 miles behind

So, I have officially fallen off the wagon, and when I fell off, I laid there for a while as the wagon trotted away. Previously I had determined that staying on the wagon was somewhat a matter of discipline, but it is also a matter of priority. As with most things, you do what you perceive to have the highest priority, whether or not it is essential and important. Because you may view this, that, or the other has having a higher priority at the moment, doesn't mean that it is important. Steven Covey waxes on this subject in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people, and it is true for me that what prevents me from doing things that are good for me is how I decide to spend my time.

In the interim between this post and the last, things changed: Dan and I are now engaged! We would like to get married next February, and so my life became a whirlwind of planning. As I am now discovering, stress management is key towards weight management and I've not been doing a good job at either.

I still intend to incorporate new habits into my daily routine. However, I am changing my approach.

I have Habit #1 - Good and regular sleep - down pat. Now that I am in a regular sleep schedule, I get really tired around 9:30 whether I want to or not, and fully awake by 7 (8 on the weekends) whether I like it or not. This is a blessing and a curse - a blessing in that I now get better sleep than before (which makes everything else - from working out, to eating, to concentration - better). It's a curse in that Dan and I don't have similar sleep schedules (I'm not sure Dan has one at all) so he's sleepy when I'm awake, and awake when I'm asleep. If/when we ever get to live together, that might change.

My new goal for this year, rather than to make a bunch of little habit changes, is to incorporate stress management into my every day routine. I want stress management to become automatic. My stress management techniques include:

- Working Out (Physical)

- Meditation and Prayer (Spiritual)

- Escaping into fiction (Mental)

Now, with good sleep secured, I am moving on to Habit #2: Working Out. Practically speaking, it may only be possible for me to work out three times a week, so I must make those three times count! From here on out, I will be updating my blog more frequently - even if I have no followers I will be accountable to myself.

The plan for this week:

Monday goal: Cardio, 30 minutes.

Monday actual: Cardio, 23 minutes (I was pressed for time).

Tuesday goal: 30 minutes of weights, 30 minutes of cardio

Tuesday actual:

Wednesday goal: 30 minutes of cardio

Wednesday actual:

Thursday goal: 30 minutes of weights, 30 minutes of cardio

Thursday actual:

I will come back and update this as the week goes... let's see if this works!