Here we go baby! One week left, so I'm going to be so impressive you won't recognize me. I'm in a different place than when I started this. I really think I can stick to this for a week solid!
Hardest challenges: Dr. Pepper and not eating out.
Strategies: Propel and home made garlic potatoe corn chowder!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Day 25
Ten days left. If I'd really been conditioning my body as I should have, this would be known as the 'sprint' portion of the marathon where I run full out, aka: give it all up cold turkey until Easter.
But I haven't. I have made a few important changes in my life. I'm reading more and watching TV less. I've actually found that given a good book, I much prefer it to the junk on television anyway. I'm buying better food, even if I'm not always eating it before it goes bad. I'm swearing less, and saying more positive things. And then there is the Dr. Pepper challenge. . . .
I have a new game plan for this: I'm giving myself a dollar everytime I say no to Dr. Pepper. This means, when the temptation is great and there is no reason for me to resist, but I do anyway. My jar has $4.00 in it. This has been my best incentive so far. Not because money is my greatest motivator. I think it's more that I can visually give myself positive reinforcement for good choices. And I am learning not to dispise water as much as I always have - As long as the conditions are perfect: clear glass, lots of ice, cold water.
I've never seen the show, but my friend says all of the things I'm trying to change are considered my SSB: Secret Single Behavior. It's from the show Sex in the City. Apparently the episode focuses on how everyone has behavior that is less than polite or productive when nobody is watching. I'm glad to know that the challenges I'm trying to overcome are common enough for night time television comedies. I also like to have a name for my bad habits: SSB. It sounds so much better than incredibly-lazy-single-girl-wastes-away-on-her-couch disease.
But I haven't. I have made a few important changes in my life. I'm reading more and watching TV less. I've actually found that given a good book, I much prefer it to the junk on television anyway. I'm buying better food, even if I'm not always eating it before it goes bad. I'm swearing less, and saying more positive things. And then there is the Dr. Pepper challenge. . . .
I have a new game plan for this: I'm giving myself a dollar everytime I say no to Dr. Pepper. This means, when the temptation is great and there is no reason for me to resist, but I do anyway. My jar has $4.00 in it. This has been my best incentive so far. Not because money is my greatest motivator. I think it's more that I can visually give myself positive reinforcement for good choices. And I am learning not to dispise water as much as I always have - As long as the conditions are perfect: clear glass, lots of ice, cold water.
I've never seen the show, but my friend says all of the things I'm trying to change are considered my SSB: Secret Single Behavior. It's from the show Sex in the City. Apparently the episode focuses on how everyone has behavior that is less than polite or productive when nobody is watching. I'm glad to know that the challenges I'm trying to overcome are common enough for night time television comedies. I also like to have a name for my bad habits: SSB. It sounds so much better than incredibly-lazy-single-girl-wastes-away-on-her-couch disease.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Day 19
Does reducing the amount of Dr. Pepper I drink Tuesday - Thursday count as breaking my habit? For example, if I go from drinking a 32 oz. drink with not much ice, to a 16 oz. with plenty of ice, is that a positive step forward? Too bad they don't have caffeine patches to help you overcome this addiction. They could call the product Caffeinette or Nicoreine. What do you think? If you patent this, I want 40% of the stock. -I figure I deserve it, since I'll probably keep your company in business with how much I buy!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Day 18
Half way. Which works, because I'm half the woman I want to be!
So I am labeling this blog 'Perspective.' That is the word I have thought a lot about with this experiment. This isn't an actual scientific experiment, so I have realized I have no accurate tool for measuring my success or failure, or determining which habits are improving or hurting my life. It's all about my perspective of what I 'think' is making a difference. Two situations in my life lately have caused me to focus on this. The first involved a lot of poor assumtions made, which affected my interactions with someone in my life. The assumptions that were incorrectly made severly effected my perspective of this individual.
I'll use the second situation was directly connected to my experiment. My brother and sister-in-law were in a car accident this weekend during that terrible storm. They miraculously slid over an overpass and down the other side without rolling onto the freeway, or smashing into the K rails on either side. When we saw the space that their car fit through and the steep hill they slide down, I said, "It is a miracle you made it through that space without damaging your car or being injured." Jokingly he said, "It wasn't a miracle. The miracle would have been hitting the K rail so the car didn't go down the other side, and avoiding the three hour wait in the snow for the tow truck altogether!"
Perspective. Of course, he was joking, and feels very blessed that both of them walked away unharmed. But it really made me think about how I am viewing this whole experience. I could assume studying God's word every morning did or did not affect the guidance I felt in going home with my mom this weekend. Some of you would say it didn't. Some of you would insist it did. I could assume that attempting to delay my need for instant gratification in the form of Dr. Pepper wasn't helping me feel less tired, or healthier. Or I could change my perspective and realize that I've experienced a lot of character growth as a result. Again, which side would you take?
I guess the new criteria I will be using is my perspective. I choose to see the miracle. It doesn't change the actualities in my life. But it is changing my life in actuality.
So I am labeling this blog 'Perspective.' That is the word I have thought a lot about with this experiment. This isn't an actual scientific experiment, so I have realized I have no accurate tool for measuring my success or failure, or determining which habits are improving or hurting my life. It's all about my perspective of what I 'think' is making a difference. Two situations in my life lately have caused me to focus on this. The first involved a lot of poor assumtions made, which affected my interactions with someone in my life. The assumptions that were incorrectly made severly effected my perspective of this individual.
I'll use the second situation was directly connected to my experiment. My brother and sister-in-law were in a car accident this weekend during that terrible storm. They miraculously slid over an overpass and down the other side without rolling onto the freeway, or smashing into the K rails on either side. When we saw the space that their car fit through and the steep hill they slide down, I said, "It is a miracle you made it through that space without damaging your car or being injured." Jokingly he said, "It wasn't a miracle. The miracle would have been hitting the K rail so the car didn't go down the other side, and avoiding the three hour wait in the snow for the tow truck altogether!"
Perspective. Of course, he was joking, and feels very blessed that both of them walked away unharmed. But it really made me think about how I am viewing this whole experience. I could assume studying God's word every morning did or did not affect the guidance I felt in going home with my mom this weekend. Some of you would say it didn't. Some of you would insist it did. I could assume that attempting to delay my need for instant gratification in the form of Dr. Pepper wasn't helping me feel less tired, or healthier. Or I could change my perspective and realize that I've experienced a lot of character growth as a result. Again, which side would you take?
I guess the new criteria I will be using is my perspective. I choose to see the miracle. It doesn't change the actualities in my life. But it is changing my life in actuality.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Day 15
Nothing like a six-hour-white-knuckle drive to Cedar City in a blizzard to sharpen the senses!
I was supposed to go to Cedar this weekend for the most adorable nephew in the world's birthday party and to listen to Sam and Jamie speak in church. After all the driving I've been doing, I had decided to tell my brothers that I just couldn't stand doing another drive and gracefully bow out.
The plan was to catch a ride home with my mom, who came back to my house to pick up her luggage. I had told her I wasn't coming, and she had loaded her bag. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to go. So with a gentle nudge from Sid, I changed my mind at the last second, threw some clothes in a bag and jumped in her car.
Call it a prompting, call it logic and stubbornness, I choose to call it the results of the spiritual changes from this diet. Whatever it was, I needed to be in that car with my mom. The drive was stressful, her wipers were broken and iced over, and the thought of her having had to endure that alone make me ever grateful I was with her! And of course I'm sure she was grateful too, as I, on more than one occasion, jumped out of the car (on I-15) and deiced her windows with semis and cars all around us!
I've definitely had my adventure for the week!
I was supposed to go to Cedar this weekend for the most adorable nephew in the world's birthday party and to listen to Sam and Jamie speak in church. After all the driving I've been doing, I had decided to tell my brothers that I just couldn't stand doing another drive and gracefully bow out.
The plan was to catch a ride home with my mom, who came back to my house to pick up her luggage. I had told her I wasn't coming, and she had loaded her bag. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to go. So with a gentle nudge from Sid, I changed my mind at the last second, threw some clothes in a bag and jumped in her car.
Call it a prompting, call it logic and stubbornness, I choose to call it the results of the spiritual changes from this diet. Whatever it was, I needed to be in that car with my mom. The drive was stressful, her wipers were broken and iced over, and the thought of her having had to endure that alone make me ever grateful I was with her! And of course I'm sure she was grateful too, as I, on more than one occasion, jumped out of the car (on I-15) and deiced her windows with semis and cars all around us!
I've definitely had my adventure for the week!
Day 14
Here we are at the end of the second week of my five week diet. Holy Rusted Metal Batman! That means I'm nearing the half way point. Half way to CHANGING MY ENTIRE LIFE. . . .right. . .
I refuse to take an inventory of the passed week. It was disastrous! That is about all I can say for it. The work week I had made me realize why all of my bad habits have started: Work! Late nights and early mornings. I can do one or the other. But not both.
I can't even update this blog on a daily basis, let alone tackle the half a dozen bad habits I've accrued over the past year. Good thing I don't have a goldfish, it would probably be floating by now!
I refuse to take an inventory of the passed week. It was disastrous! That is about all I can say for it. The work week I had made me realize why all of my bad habits have started: Work! Late nights and early mornings. I can do one or the other. But not both.
I can't even update this blog on a daily basis, let alone tackle the half a dozen bad habits I've accrued over the past year. Good thing I don't have a goldfish, it would probably be floating by now!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Day 13
While it's been an emotionally exhausting week, my mom is back visiting. Something about a mom makes you pertend to have good habits? Didn't get up on time, but I did avoid any bad language and didn't watch TV after 11:00 last night (although she did - maybe that is where I get that insomnia!). And here it is 1:00 PM on a Friday and I haven't had my caffeinated beverage yet! Will I make it through the day? Probably not. But I'm determined to be on my best behavior for mommy dearest! And I think I need all the good karma points I can get for not drinking Dr. Pepper on a 'Dr. Pepper Approved Day.'
Trying to analyze if I am cranky because I haven't been following my good habits, or if I haven't been following my good habits because I'm cranky. Not sure I can scientifically prove this one way or the other. But my brother would say I'm cranky because I'm Erin!
Trying to analyze if I am cranky because I haven't been following my good habits, or if I haven't been following my good habits because I'm cranky. Not sure I can scientifically prove this one way or the other. But my brother would say I'm cranky because I'm Erin!
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