Body, Mind, and Spirit...Day 37

To be honest I'm a little surprised that I have lasted this long.  With the exception of one night of bad eating habits, and one week of bad exercise habits I really have stayed true to this.  This is so amazing to be, because to be honest I didn't have much faith in myself to do this.  I'm beginning to believe that even though it might take some time, my weight loss goals are attainable.  =)

Anyways, after Thursday night's long night, and bad habits I got back on the horse Friday.  I did a 5K on the elliptical and pushed myself.  I had to remind myself that this wasn't punishment for my behavior the night before though, this was getting back in my routine.  The second I start thinking about exercise as a punishment, I shoot myself in the foot.  It will make exercise seem like a negative thing, and it isn't, it's very much a positive thing!  (Psychologist coming out, sorry!)  So getting in the gym was a good thing, not a punishment.  I accomplished the 5K in 55 minutes and burned 618 calories according to the elliptical!  Not a bad days work!  I seem to really enjoy the elliptical, with my sketchy knees there is little impact, so I can go faster longer, and I feel like I am in more control then when I'm on a treadmill.  I mean on a treadmill if I need to slow down a little to catch my breath it's not that easy to slow it down without feeling like I'm going to go falling off the back.  We've all seen the videos of people falling and sliding off the back of them, I don't want to find out how much that hurts.

I've also gotten back into eating better, and cutting down my snacking.  Snacking is hard right now.  I eat when I'm bored, when I study, when I watch TV, and when I'm emotional just to name some of the situations when I tend to indulge.  Snacking has been the most difficult thing for me to keep under control while doing this, although I'm doing better with it, I still often deal with the fact that my mind is telling me to eat when I know I'm not hungry.  So the key is to stay busy with something, hence the reason my laundry and dishes are constantly being done, lol.  This is also why I have been cooking so much, it gives me something to do.

Since this blog is about more than just losing weight this weekend I decided to take two days off from exercising (M-F last week, at least 30 minutes each day!!!!) and focus on my mind and spirit.  For me this meant meditation, education, reading, and lots of hot tea!  The education portion was doing my homework.  Although strenuous and annoying at times, it is necessary, and I really enjoy what I'm learning.  I also took time to meditate.  No I'm not sitting cross legged in the middle of my living room chanting "om" for an hour, but I am sitting in quiet and thinking, and clearing my mind.  I often joke when I'm typing that my mind is working faster than my fingers, and sometimes I think it's because we are "multi-tasking" our brain.  Typing a paper, thinking about what to make for dinner, and listening to the music playing in the other room.  Our minds go on overload, so I have to meditate every once and a while just to slow my mind down, and remember what is important.  Finally I read!  I love to read!  As a matter of fact all I wanted for my birthday in January was an Amazon Kindle (ps - I LOVE the thing!).  The concept of thousands of books at my literal fingertips makes me giddy!  So to help me have some me time, I read.  As a matter of fact last night I made a wonderful dinner (photo soon!), made some hot tea, turned off my phone, and read a book I have wanted to read for some time now.  It's amazing how one night spent for yourself, by yourself, can make you feel ten thousand times better about the world.

Now it's off to make dinner for tonight, put in a load of laundry, and put away dishes.  (I was serious, they are constantly being done, lol.)