Fighting For A Life Worth Living

Day 37 - Experts Don't Know What They Are Talking About PT2

Yesterday on Fighting For A Life Worth Living we discussed goals. How experts suggest you make goals and my past experiences with them. I mentioned there are multipal routes to take towards most destinations and goals are no different. Stay tuned to hear my alternative route!

I have been battling being over weight for many years and have tried everything I can possibly think of to achieve my goals. When one avenue closes I find another one. Last summer I based my goals on the advice it takes three weeks to develop a habit. My first goal was to drink 80 ounces of water a day. When the three weeks were finished I felt drinking all that water should have become second nature and then I could move on to a new goal such as consuming a piece of fruit with every meal. What I learned is that you can not force yourself to make a habit and if that is your goal it will never be achieved. I believe the only way to make a habit is subconsciously.

Any time I have successfully developed a habit, whether I wanted to or not, was done subconsciously. For example, my husband and I made the decision to order water when we go to restaurants. Our reasoning is that it's cheaper and better for us than pop. At first it was very difficult to order water. Our previous habit had not been broken yet and our first instinct was to order a beverage with lots of unhealthy sugar in it. We never said that we expected this to become second nature, but the more we practiced ordering water, the easier it became. Now, we have no issues ordering water when we eat out. We knew the decision we had to make and a new habit was created naturally, without us knowing what was happening. When it comes to goal setting and habits I believe less is more.

My new approach to becoming healthy is more relaxed than it has ever been before and I am succeeding more than I ever have before. My ultimate goal is to get to a healthy weight, but the first small goal I made for myself was to ask myself before I eat if I am truly hungry. Here's a secret, I focused on that goal for two weeks max. Putting all of your effort towards one thing is exhausting and I feel that when I put all my effort towards one goal other areas in my life suffer. When I focus on writing my house isn't clean and vise versa. The same is true with trying to get healthy. By not focusing on a particular goal I am trying my best to become healthier in all aspects of my life. We all know what healthy is and what it looks like. The tough part is actually doing what is necessary. Last week at my parents house, they always had fruit juice available. The family's favorite was the blue Hawaiian Punch and I drank it more often then I should have. Coming back home I still wanted to drink that sugary beverage, but going to the store I told myself I didn't need it. I haven't given that blue punch any thoughts until right now.
Last night I had an interview at 6pm and hadn't fixed supper because I was preparing for the interview. The interview lasted longer than I expected and when I got home I didn't want to cook. My first instinct was to order pizza, but that would cost too much. My husband suggested we buy frozen pizzas because they are a lot cheaper, but I said no because I knew the frozen pizza would be high in calories and I would buy cookies since I was hungry. We ended up fixing a frozen lasagna. It's because of instances like those that I believe I am achieving more without focusing on particular goals. If I would have focused solely on only eating when I was hungry I might have missed the opportunities to advance in other areas. I still have my destination of being a healthy weight, but my route is smoother with less stress. Don't misunderstand me, the stress is still there, but it's in smaller quantities than before.