After indulging in really lazy and unhealthy habits for most of my life, I sometimes wax nostalgic for those few years when I was actually in really good shape. Not the kind of great shape that a magazine would be interested in, but really quite good. Then I fell into old patterns, which became deepened and more refined until basic sensible food like apples and carrots started to look like medicine.
In making my way back to good health, I feel as though I've got a wide turning radius to contend with. A total change overnight could result in relapse or failure within a matter of days. Simpler, smaller things seem to be the way to go. I'm moving in the kind of direction I want. For example (and this is contentious as a health choice), I've stopped eating meat. I haven't missed it at all, as if part of me has a ratcheting mechanism that won't allow my appetite to move back. If there is no other dietary choice, or if someone makes me a gift of some meat, I'll eat it. My wife spent a lot of money on some beef the other night and didn't make anything else, so I ate it. Other than that, I've been totally off the stuff without any cravings.
The big habit that i want to get into is waking up early and exercising in the mornings. The major problem here is that I want to take 40 minutes to an hour to work out when I'd normally be sleeping... and for a teacher that last hour of sleep is more valuable than gold. However, that's the only time I can reliably do it. I recently had to wake up early to talk on Skype, and it felt nice to wake up earlier and my performance was just fine during the work day. A morning workout would feel tremendously difficult, but I think the benefits will become clear soon enough. Now, if I can only drag myself out of bed...
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
New Habits Die Pretty Easily
For the New Year I'm sworn not to panic if I fail at keeping a resolution, which is good because I'm not technically doing very well at changing my habits.
One thing I did that I believe was a very positive step was to create an account on habitforge.com that gives me a daily reminder in my e-mail. Of course I could be using it more constructively - each time it asks me if I succeeded in my goal of working out, I have to click 'No' and hope that no one is reading, so just by asking it's reminding me to hold up my end of the bargain. Other sites ask users to put up some money that they'll need to sacrifice if they fail to keep their goal, but that's a little bit too much like self-flagellation for me.
In other news, I've made the announcement that I'm going to become a vegetarian. That's right. I've been wanting to do it for a long time, but every time I see a nice sandwich or borek with a little meat in it I fold like a broken chair in a convention hall (was that a good metaphore?). I used to be a vegetarian... I mean I was a vegetarian for about a year in university... until I met that girl who happened to be a pretty good cook. Steak tasted pretty good then. Mmmm... steak.
Nevermind. This time I'm going through with it.
One thing I did that I believe was a very positive step was to create an account on habitforge.com that gives me a daily reminder in my e-mail. Of course I could be using it more constructively - each time it asks me if I succeeded in my goal of working out, I have to click 'No' and hope that no one is reading, so just by asking it's reminding me to hold up my end of the bargain. Other sites ask users to put up some money that they'll need to sacrifice if they fail to keep their goal, but that's a little bit too much like self-flagellation for me.
In other news, I've made the announcement that I'm going to become a vegetarian. That's right. I've been wanting to do it for a long time, but every time I see a nice sandwich or borek with a little meat in it I fold like a broken chair in a convention hall (was that a good metaphore?). I used to be a vegetarian... I mean I was a vegetarian for about a year in university... until I met that girl who happened to be a pretty good cook. Steak tasted pretty good then. Mmmm... steak.
Nevermind. This time I'm going through with it.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Pizza and Self Improvement
The funny thing about self improvement is that I want to eat pizza. Pizza goes down so easily that a large pizza can disappear before you know it, and that's exactly what happened tonight. Most of the pizza disappeared into me. It was a large... shared by two people. All I can say for the experience is that the pizza was vegetarian... and that it was delicious.
During the day, I wish I had time to trek up the low mountains that are visible from the school I work at. They're just rocky, sandy mounds with a lot of homes and the side, but it looks like a nice steep walk. I want to run, I want to go cycling... but after a long day at school I just want to go home, sit down and eat something handy.
My current life simply isn't organized to encourage the kind of changes I want to make. However, I achieved a certain calm today that I haven't felt in years by finding faith in my own desire to change.
If you want to make changes, then you want to make changes and you can go in that direction. Don't freak out if you fail.
During the day, I wish I had time to trek up the low mountains that are visible from the school I work at. They're just rocky, sandy mounds with a lot of homes and the side, but it looks like a nice steep walk. I want to run, I want to go cycling... but after a long day at school I just want to go home, sit down and eat something handy.
My current life simply isn't organized to encourage the kind of changes I want to make. However, I achieved a certain calm today that I haven't felt in years by finding faith in my own desire to change.
If you want to make changes, then you want to make changes and you can go in that direction. Don't freak out if you fail.
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