Self-Discipline
Tomorrow I need to get back into exercise. I am extremely soft on myself. I haven’t exercised for over a week. I have a million and one excuses as we all do when we indulge ourselves in sloppiness, but the reality is not exercising doesn’t make my life easier as I like to kid myself. I had to think about why I stopped and I realised it was because my heart monitor wasn’t working. Probably needs a new battery. I don’t use it because I have some kind of heart condition or anything. It’s just to ensure that I am going hard enough. I need that feedback to ensure that my exercise on my stepper isn’t just a stroll in the park, and is an effective workout. That’s how slack I am!
Self-Imposed Limits
In our household our internet goes off at 9.45 everynight. My techie partner has set it up like this so that the kids don’t spend all night online. It’s really a good idea as it gives you the chance to get a good nights sleep and creates a limit that becomes a foolproof system. I think I was the first to ask for an extension of that time and when it wasn’t granted I was cranky. I am over it now though and I have been thinking about other ways that I can create healthy limits for myself in other areas of life.
Creative Limits
I have noticed at school if the kids have free reign to create a short story or any kind of project or peice of work, they spend so much time trying to think about what to do or write, it becomes a nightmare for them. When I first started teaching, I thought if they could write about whatever they wanted it would make it easier for them. WRONG! Now I create some kind of limit and it flows easier for them. I am always willing to negotiate with anyone who has another idea, yet it’s rare any student takes me up on that. If any of what I am saying rings true for you read Presentation Zen: Can limitations and restrictions be liberating? The answer for me is too right they can.
Boundaries
Many parents say children need boundaries. As a teacher in the classroom I know students operate best when there are clear boundaries. I need boundaries too. In fact it would be great if I could somehow create some device to prevent me from getting coffee until my exercise was done. Any suggestions anyone?
Feedback, statistics, where am I?
Since I have returned from holidays, I have been on a quest to lose weight and get fit. I have already lost a few kilos, so it’s going well.
I have an exercise machine and I have spent 20 minutes a day on it with my heart monitor and my mp3 player, sweating as much as I can. I intend to do some weight training and exercises soon, but want to get this cardio stuff made into a habit as that is my weakness physically. I find if I attempt to create large and complex habit, it soon evaporates.
I’m heading back to yoga next week, and I am excited about that too. I have done yoga on and off for many years and I love stretching and being flexible.
I have decided on the gradual approach as far as dieting goes. I am paying attention to what I am eating and reducing the chocolate intake, which was becoming enormous last year. Chocolate had become a daily staple rather than an occasional treat. I am cutting back mainly on sugar, and processed foods. Nothing extreme though, no measuring or weighing or excluding of any food types or groups. I generally eat a variety of food and am now eating less of that same variety, minus the extremely unhealthy foods. I am also having a protein drink for breakfast as it is easy for me to get into the habit of skipping it because I never feel hungry in the mornings. By morning tea I am starving and straight into the chocolate or any junk I can find at school, usually processed unhealthy food.
I think the thing that helps me most is that I have been weighing myself more regularly and entering stats into an excel spreadsheet. I had actually thrown my scales out and decided I would never diet again. It was a good theory, but it didn’t work. I need to monitor myself. I gained too much weight whilst I wasn’t watching. I have created a few measures and I record this daily. It is keeping me on track.
Podcasts and Walking
I think one thing that has made walking easier for me is that I have been downloading some podcasts to listen to whilst I walk. It is dark still at 6.00 in the morning so there isn’t much to see and listening to a podcast makes the time spent doubly valuable to me. This week I have been listening to Steve Pavlina’s podcasts:http://www.stevepavlina.com/audio/
I also found a site that I am going to try on the weekend, which has heaps of audios :http://www.audiodharma.org/talks-gil.html, I haven’t listened to them yet, but they look interesting. It’s a fabulous resource though.