At the ripe old age of 54 and about to enter to stage of life called perimenopause I knew that it was now or never. After the change of life had set in I would have other realities to deal with. After many years of making lists of what I would deprive myself of, not do, limit myself from doing, etc. I came to a realization that for someone with my impulsive personality, deprivation just does not work. Knowing this, a solution started forming in my mind. It actually was like a bolt of lightning. The one thing I knew I was very good at is doing things; being proactive. I made the decision that, rather than trying to deny myself of anything I would make a list of good habits to incorporate into my life on a weekly basis. I hoped that these good habits would crowd out the bad and improve my physical, mental and emotional health in the long term.
I made a list of the habits I would like to curb. This list would be the seeds of the new habits I would implement. My list was as follows: Too much wine (close to one bottle every night and more on weekends), Not enough exercise, too much junk food and not enough fruits and veggies and those were the tip of the iceberg. Thought I would document my progress so far since it's becoming a bit of a success (UREKA !! YIPPEEE !! YAHOO !!) I have a spreadsheet going that keeps me on track. Wine and weight are my biggies but I am patient as it took 10 years to develop the bad habits and it will take at least one to lose the 10 pounds and drink more moderately.
Anyway I am on week 4 - First week I added a jug of water a day... feel a lot better just from that small change.. so far I have been consistent..
Week 2 I added 15 minutes of exercise per day with a plan to double that within a month or so. That's every day - no skipping. Right now my equipment of choice is the rebounder. I can chat on the phone or watch Oprah and bounce away. The few times I have skipped I have done double the next day. Result is more energy afterwards to do housework and get office work done..
Week 3 I commited to taking my supplements (you know the ones..) so although I can't stomach the amount recommended, I have been taking the kudzu, L-Glut, etc. every day in varying degrees. Skipped once or twice on the weekend but besides that doing great.
This being week 4 I added 2 servings of fruit daily. Body is 'functioning' alot better if you know what I mean..:H
Next week I plan on drinking herbal tea right after dinner daily which hopefully will curb the habit of continuing to consume wine from dinner to bedtime... tricky, eh...
I have never done well with deprivation but this is working for me and hopefully within a few months I will see a decrease in wine consumption and weight. If you are interested in seeing my 52 week plan I can post it.
Just thought I would share something that has worked for me for 4 weeks .. and THAT's A RECORD !!
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