I was 2 weeks into establishing my first habit. All was going well; my goal was to simply change into exercise clothes after work every day. Not only had I managed to change into workout clothes every day, I also managed to get quite a bit of exercise as well. Then it all came crashing down and turned into one epic failure…
After completing two weeks I found myself heading to Pittsburg for a bachelor party. I had a great time, but I definitely came home on Sunday quite tired. Monday morning was rough as I was still recovering from a weekend full of late nights and unhealthy eating. When I got home, I realized that I had forgotten that one of my daughter’s was at soccer camp; I needed to go get her at 7PM. I grabbed a quick bite for dinner, took a quick shower and then headed out the door. About halfway there I realized that I had forgotten to change into my workout clothes.
The week has passed now and I’m feeling better, but I need to start over. I’ve decided that if I want to build healthy habits, I’m going to need to start at the beginning. I need to start each day right, I need to start each day with a win. One of my struggles as of late has been just getting myself out of bed. The alarm goes off at 5:45AM and I usually get up, turn it off, and lay back down for at least a half hour and sometimes more. I don’t have to be at work until 8AM, but I like going in at 7AM so I don’t have to stay late in the evening. Lately It’s been all I can do to get to work by 8AM.
So my new habit to Focus on for the next 21 days is to get up when my alarm goes off. I will do it every work day; on weekends I do not set my alarm (that will be my reward for completing each week).
After completing two weeks I found myself heading to Pittsburg for a bachelor party. I had a great time, but I definitely came home on Sunday quite tired. Monday morning was rough as I was still recovering from a weekend full of late nights and unhealthy eating. When I got home, I realized that I had forgotten that one of my daughter’s was at soccer camp; I needed to go get her at 7PM. I grabbed a quick bite for dinner, took a quick shower and then headed out the door. About halfway there I realized that I had forgotten to change into my workout clothes.
From there things only got worse; over the course of the next couple days I got severely depressed. I kept thinking that if I couldn’t succeed at this very simple goal, how could I possibly do anything that would be difficult? My depression turned into poor eating, lousy performance at work, and basically turning myself into a vegetable on the couch in the evening.
The week has passed now and I’m feeling better, but I need to start over. I’ve decided that if I want to build healthy habits, I’m going to need to start at the beginning. I need to start each day right, I need to start each day with a win. One of my struggles as of late has been just getting myself out of bed. The alarm goes off at 5:45AM and I usually get up, turn it off, and lay back down for at least a half hour and sometimes more. I don’t have to be at work until 8AM, but I like going in at 7AM so I don’t have to stay late in the evening. Lately It’s been all I can do to get to work by 8AM.
As I look back at this horrible week I had, it dawned on me that every morning started off terrible. When I get up on time then there’s time to think about what I’m grateful for. When I get up on time I get to work early and have a stress free hour to get ready for my day. When I get up on time I give myself a chance to have a good day.
So my new habit to Focus on for the next 21 days is to get up when my alarm goes off. I will do it every work day; on weekends I do not set my alarm (that will be my reward for completing each week).
So that’s my new hait to focus on, but at the same time I also need to get myself back on the healthy bandwagon. I’ve been eating terrible since the bachelor party and I have gotten no exercise at all. What’s truly sad is that there’s a walking trail where my daughter has soccer practice. She had practice every day last week and I was there for at least 2 hours each night. One would have thought I could use the opportunity to walk, but all I did was sit there and play on my phone.
That same daughter today told me she’s worried that I won’t live to see her 18th birthday. While I won’t pretend that it didn’t hurt to hear that, I will admit it has brought me a new level of motivation to accelerate my focus on becoming healthy. Now mind you, I’ve come a long way, but I still have a long way to go as well. It’s time to get back to business. She practices twice week now for the foreseeable future and I plan to walk at least 30 minutes on those nights. I also need to find other ways to stay active the rest of the week.
I’m also going back to my healthy eating lifestyle; No processed sugar or carbs, lots of veggies, and plenty of water. The first few days are always the hardest, but then I start to feel really good. Once I get to that point I need to constantly remind myself just how bad I start feel when I stray in my eating.
Wish me luck as I reset. Stay Strong!
