Friday, January 21, 2011

It's the Little Things That Can Make the Biggest Difference

A good friend of mine suggested to me that I keep a small pocket calendar nearby, and on every single day, write down what I did with regard to exercise.  He made a big point of telling me that if I did nothing that day, I needed to write that down as well.

I am AMAZED at how well this little, easy, fast exercise is helping me!

For three solid weeks now, I have kept this calendar.  My goal was to exercise every single week day, with weekends being optional.  The first two weeks were pretty easy, as I had the "This is my year" adrenaline buzz that often accompanies the changing of the calendar.  But this week was a little more difficult for many reasons.

I am in the midst of changing jobs, my routine is off a bit because of snow days, I had a couple of nights when I didn't sleep particularly well, and on and on and on.  Previously, I would have felt completely justified in giving myself a pass for any one of these reasons.  But, not now.  I just couldn't take the thought of messing up my "perfect little calendar."  How silly, but how incredibly effective.

So here it is, the end of week three, and I have worked out (cardio and weights) 15 out of the last 15 weekdays!  I can say with near 100% certainty that this has never happened before.  (I must admit, I get additional inspiration from my 18-year-old son who works out with me every morning and finds excuses "lame.")

They say it takes 21 days for something to become a habit, and I have to say I agree.  So I have decided to take my health and weight loss goals in 21-day chunks.  I think I have a good handle on the workouts now, so next week I am going to tackle my next big goal - consistently writing down every bite I take.  This is no easy feat for me, so it will certainly be a challenge.  But I'm up for it, and I think combining that with my consistent workouts will definitely help me get to being my Best Bets.

Have a great day and please drop me a comment if you are reading this blog.

Betsy

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