Before I get to my post for today, I want to say that my wife and I went out for our run this evening and had a great time. We were moving faster than we usually do and both of us felt strong. I think it was because it wasn't so stinking hot, and we had some new stuff to look at. My wife agrees that Narnia feels like a whole different world compared from the streets that we normally run on. I'll try to get some pictures of Narnia at some point for you. Now... down to the business.
I spent some time today thinking really hard about habits. I determined that habits control most of what we do throughout the day. For instance. I bet most of you are in the habit of brushing your teeth every morning. You're probably in the habit of eating breakfast (or not). You may take the same lunch break every day. You may go to the same church service every week. When you were in school, whether your seat was assigned or not, you probably sat in the same exact seat every time you went into that class. Things feel weird and uncomfortable when you're not doing what you normally do. That's why we continue to do the things we do.
We don't always have good habits either. You may be in the habit of having a drink with dinner, or having a beer while you're cooking on the grill or watching the game. Maybe you're in the habit of staying up until midnight even though you've got to get up at 6am for work. I had the bad habit of going to Wawa while I was on the road for work and getting a lemonade iced tea, a turkey wrap, and a bag of chips whether I was hungry or not. Bad habit.
What I'm trying to do is reprogram myself. I'm in the home stretch of this first 90 days and I'm noticing the change in my habits. I've said since the end of the first week that I think I've gotten into the habit of drinking water regularly. I'm pretty confident that I can stick with that. It's definitely not hard and I love the feeling of being hydrated. I have noticed that I do not like the taste of our water, even though we have a Brita filter, but I'm used to it enough that it's not a problem.
My wife has noticed a serious reduction in my amount of drinking. I've gotten out of the habit of drinking whenever I feel like it. Sometimes I feel like a drink, but I decide not to because of what it will do to my goals.
I'm really into working out. I didn't work out on Sunday, Tuesday, or Wednesday and I could feel it in my body. I felt more sluggish and "blah" than normal. I feel much better tonight after my run and know that I will have more energy tomorrow as a result. I crave workouts and really wish I could work out while I'm doing work. I've gotten into the habit of working out and now my body wants it so badly. I'm also much more in tune with my body as a result.
Other habits have come as side effects. I've gotten into the habit of eating less because I'm able to feel when I'm hungry or not. I'm no longer in the habit of drinking soda or iced tea because I've replaced it with water. I'm also in the habit of being in bed, usually with the light off, by 11 so I can get up at 7 for work. I think that I'm able to fall asleep faster because I'm working out and my body is tired.
An interesting thing I've noticed about habits is that I find that I have habits on certain workout routes. For instance, if I'm on a particular run that takes me through a park, I always feel like I need to stop and walk for a little while after I leave the park. It's a 3.2 mile run. I can run 5 miles on a different route, so it's not the distance or effort that breaks me. I'm just in the habit of stopping at that particular part of the run. I've done that on other routes before when I was living with my mom. It took a lot to decide that I was in good enough shape to go past that point or go farther. It's really a mental thing (as most habits are). On our run today, we went about 3.5 miles and I felt like I could have gone much farther. I guess it's about deciding in your mind that you're not going to die and you CAN continue. I think that if i push past a point of wanting to stop, my habit for that particular route will be that I can finish it regardless of how I feel.
Take some time to think about your habits, good or bad, and if you want to or need to change any of them to make yourself a better, healthier person. It doesn't take long, and a lot of the habits that I've created for myself didn't require much effort to change. Willpower, on the other hand... that's something I need to use on a daily basis.
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