What are some habits you're trying to make/break?

AeiriMuse

I've had some habits I've been working to break and some ones I'm trying to implement into my life, though I find myself curious and open minded to know what others are trying to do with their own.

In my whole fitness pursuit, I'm trying to take better care of myself. I did a major turn on not just brushing my teeth, but flossing daily and rinsing with mouthwash after breakfast and before bed. I want to add using chapstick and lotion after each shower but I always seem to forget.

I have fully integrated my habit of drinking water after I wake up in the morning and right before bed, and I hardly ever drink soda. I keep it to teas, lemonades, and sometimes juice. Occasionally I have coffee, but it isn't a daily routine anymore.

I am also trying to break the habit of zoning out into space for long periods of time. It occurs mostly on stormy/rainy days. Instead of being a frozen zombie, I want to get chores done, get some chapters edited, draw some pictures, or train my dog, Frosty, a new trick (Yeah, he might be 12 this upcoming August, but he's smart and we've been teaching him all kinds of new things.).

The biggest and hardest one I'm trying to break is overeating when I go out to eat. I have a habit of loving the food SO much, that I will eat everything on my plate. (Not to mention it was something my parents mistakenly enforced when I was little. I absolutely -HAD- to clear my plate in order to leave the table.) So, I'm trying to stop myself from doing this by: 1. Taking a fiber supplement 15-20 minutes before (or right as we're leaving the house), 2. Drinking at least a full glass of water before the food arrives, 3. Bring something to do to help me eat slower (BWW has trivia, or I'll bring my tablet to draw while I chat, or I bring a notepad to make notes in or do a journal/thought dump in.), and 4. Try to order my meal with a side that the people who came with me will eat for me. I have also added another one for sandwiches specifically: 5. If a sandwich is ordered, it is cut in half. Once I finish eating one half, I'm to drink half a cup of water before deciding if I am actually still hungry enough to eat the other half. I really need to remind myself that leftovers are allowed to be brought home to be eaten later...

So what are some habits that you're trying to make? What are some you're trying to break?

carsonoliviaowens

The first habit I'm trying to make is to get up and work out in the mornings instead of in the evenings. The last 3 weeks, I've been able to get up and make it to the gym at least 2 mornings each week. Last week I made it 3 times. Woohoo! This week was a different story. I feel that if I get up and get it over with in the morning, then I'll have more time in the evenings to relax, and also to clean my house, cook dinner, catch up on reading, things like that.

Another habit I'd like to make is to eat 4 different veggies every day, 2 at lunch and 2 at dinner. And I'm not counting potatoes or rice or any other starches as veggies like most people would. I mean things with color. Broccoli, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, squash, the good stuff. In my mind it doesn't seem like it will be too hard because I love veggies. I love food in general. I think that was my first problem. But I think taking the time to plan out the veggies for every day is going to be the hard part for me. I'm not a planner. I'm a "pick up whatever's in the fridge and go"-er.

The big habit I'd like to break is relying on my phone so much throughout the day. If I'm bored, I find myself picking up to look at Facebook or Pinterest. I need to find other things to do, like being more productive with cleaning around the house or I could even take that time to prepare all those veggies I plan to eat. I just need to find something better to do with my time and not be so dependent upon technology.

bookworm_847

I'm trying to get into the habit of sticking to my meal plans when I make my menu for the following week. I come up with these great meals, but then end up not making them some of the time because I'm feeling lazy, haha. My diary would be a lot prettier if I could stick with it!

I'd like to break the habit of constantly making myself everyone else's savior. I need to make myself realize that it's not my job to save everyone... I can help them, but I don't need to take on everyone's stuff like it's my own.

I'd also like to get out and work in the yard more often. There's so much that needs to be done, but it's easier to just "leave it for next week" sometimes!

AeiriMuse

Carson:

If you want another good green, Kale! Spinach is one of my favorites for salads; if you throw in a little bit of dried cranberries and glazed pecans… Heavenly. You can also throw in some peaches and a little bit of some feta cheese. (Or goat cheese--it’s like a slightly tangier cream cheese)

Another favorite of mine is steamed artichoke. You peel the flower petals and eat the tip portion that was connected to the center until you reach the inner-most area. Then you just use a spoon to scoop out the choke from the heart and it’s really delicious. I enjoy it the most with family because it’s a slow to eat social veggie.

As for putting down your phone… Have you seen unicefusa? Perhaps this might help you out while ALSO generate donations for a beautiful cause!

http://www.unicefusa.org/mission/survival/water/tap-project

Jamie:

Have you tried pre-prepping some of the food? I used to do this all the time when I lived in Nevada. My biggest helper was my dad because he’d be interested in the new recipes I was trying out. So he would help me figure out when to prep the food and would do it with me. Perhaps you can talk someone else into coming over to spend time with you by helping you out? Yeah, sometimes it’s a lot of work, but when it means spending time with someone you care about, the work doesn’t seem so hard and you come to really enjoy the get-together.

This might also help break your second habit. I used to have the same one--and what helped me overcome it was to ask for help. Even when I thought my troubles were nothing in comparison, I let out one plea back in 2012 and -EVERY- friend came to my aid. For a month, I had some friends text me to ask me what I was eating for meals and would tell me whether or not they felt that was a good idea. They got into the habit of asking me “what day is it” in reference to my calorie cycle and keeping note of where the nearest fresh&easy and Tropical Smoothie Cafes were to help me out. It made me realize just how much I was there for others, how much I set aside for everyone else. My plea for help brought some of them to tears when I apologized for taking up their time and they told me that in comparison it was nothing. It was a big boost of support and it got me kick started into a healthier life. Give it a shot. The people who count the most will be the ones that answer that call, no matter how insignificant or serious it might be.

As for the garden, perhaps make a schedule. Treat it like you would an appointment at first to get it worked into your natural order. Also, look at pictures of gardens for ideas and implement your favorites over time. Seeing what it can become could help inspire you to work to make it right in front of you.

Iron_Rose

Habits... let me see. I would love to make myself walk every day and maybe beat my weekly step average of like 2k. Eating better of course, and drink more water. I can't stand plain water, never could. But I need to get myself off the sugar ride.

AeiriMuse

Habits... let me see. I would love to make myself walk every day and maybe beat my weekly step average of like 2k. Eating better of course, and drink more water. I can't stand plain water, never could. But I need to get myself off the sugar ride.

A good one my friend did for the water, was she ate fruit instead. Sure, it was still up there in calories, but it was better calories. Fresh fruit will ALWAYS be better than juice or sugary soda. She did that because she couldn't stand tea. I love tea. Though it has to be cold tea. I've lived in hot places for way too long to have hot tea. (Though, I've always enjoyed hot coffee and hot cocoa. I'm strange. lol) Anywho, maybe you can try this? I know I sometimes hated the taste of water until I weeded everything but caffeine free tea and a very occasional cup of coffee out. Once you get used to only having water, it becomes natural to have it. (Though cold water always tastes better to me.)

ghr4912

A habit that I would really like to break is sitting so long at work. I work 12 hour shifts at night so it is so easy to just sit and sit without getting up and walking around. I would like to make myself get up every hour and walk. I can't always step out of the room but I can at least walk in place or do side steps. My goal is to move for 10 mins every hour. It doesn't seem so hard when saying that's what I want to do however actually finding the motivation at 3 am to get up and move rather then sit in my nice comfy chair with my feet up is where I have failed before. So here goes...

AeiriMuse

Hmm. Well, how often do you drink water or get a snack? Or better yet, since it's in an office for 12 hours and graveyard, I'm pretty certain there is a coffee machine in use. Well, whenever you need to get anything like that, instead of sitting down to drink or eat, stand up.

If you're able to, push the chair away from the desk even while you're talking and stand. Even if you're leaning on the desk a bit, it will help your legs adjust and become better at being up. You can also do arm circles and stretches while at work. It might even help relieve back pain from sitting for so long.

AeiriMuse

I have come up with more!

I really realized that I have been slipping. I haven't been logging everything--namely because so much of what I've been skipping out is so little calories--but it has led me to not put in bites here or there of really bad stuff that DOES add up.

I don't want to get into doing that again! So, I'm coming up with ways to help prevent myself from doing this as well as some other bad habits I have:

I've been overeating. Part of this is that I haven't been very diligent against my roommate when we go somewhere to eat. He likes to order appetizers and share them with me. In fact, he's gotten in the habit of getting them and assuming I will most definitely eat half of them! So, from now on my goal is to not eat it if it isn't planned or logged. On top of that, if I don't eat it, I ask for a box. It's so simple... asking for a to-go box. Yet, for some reason I forget they exist sometimes. Sure, I also have a lot of paranoia--especially with bad food, so I tend not to eat left overs and it is definitely harder to convince myself to eat anything that isn't really diet appropriate left overs. Although, Jake, my knight in shining armor, can consume more calories than I can and is usually more than happy to eat them. (I'm a 4'10 petite and he's a 6'3 cajun. )

Okie, need to stop the rambling. lol Sorry. To continue this, I'm still feeling sick after eating out at a restaurant, even when I'm in my calorie limit. I'm not sure if it's what I'm eating so much as it's HOW much it is all together. So, I'm making a new rule--since my tummy needs to shrink anyway--is that every meal will be split in half. If whoever I am there with does not want to share it with me, then one of the halves will go in a to-go box. In fact, I plan to ask for a to-go box as soon as it arrives at the table. This will help me keep to my proportions... or I hope it will.

I've been working on drinking more water, and have been pretty successful. Though I need to stop having all of the water of the day in one portion of the day. It needs to be spaced out better. So what I'm kicking off is I'm setting alarms on my phone.

In fact, it's not the only thing I'm working on setting alarms for. Lately I've been having some trouble waking up, and I think it's because I have been just sleeping until Jake wakes me up with breakfast--which isn't consistent. So, now I'm going to figure out a time to wake up, and wake up at that time! I'm also going to set myself a consistent time to start my workouts so that there's no confusion with my roommate. This way there's less drama for me to get myself to get it done and less issues with timing my meals.

Speaking of meals--I want to go really research some of the restaurant meals I'm getting. In the past I have just tried to find something that was relative to what I was eating if it wasn't already in the database. Though, how can any of those guessing matches really be anything close to a 'match'? So, I'm going to scout for all the menu's and nutrition charts for the foods or I'm going to figure out the ingredients and create recipes via the MFP recipe generator. This way it won't be a total guess. Granted, no one is going to give me the ingredients to their secret sauces and such, but at least I can be as close as possible or overestimate it a tad.

Last but not least, I want to get back into cooking. I used to cook all the time with my dad and sister and I'm really good at coming up with original recipes and dishes straight out of my head. (I did come to get the nick name Muse for a reason. ) I want to do that again! Even if I am limited to less cooking utensils. (I'm lacking a working oven. We have a tiny little convectional oven.) I feel like if I got into it again, I could start sharing them with everyone, too. I come from a family line of chefs on both sides, about 4 generations each. We love good tasting, made from scratch and fresh produce food.

ghr4912

I keep my water bottle handy. I'm trying to do more standing because I have noticed how weak my back has became. I can raise my desk so I'm hoping to make myself stand more. Hopefully these small steps will start to add up

bookworm_847

Scouting the restaurant menus and putting half of your meal in a to-go box right away are both great ideas. Just for fun, I once put in my regular meal from a restaurant my husband and went to once a week or so. It was over 3600 calories! :noway: That solved a bit of the mystery of how I gained all of that "happily married weight," lol.

One thing that has helped me cook more regularly is making a menu the week before, and buying everything I'd need that weekend. It's easier to put together healthy meals that'll help meet macro goals for the day too.

Thank you for your suggestions! I'll have to see about trying some of that stuff out. I prep most of my breakfasts & lunches for the week on Sunday, but there's something about the actual act of cooking dinner after work that I find relaxing. It's just sometimes I had a long day and don't feel like cooking... it's a discipline thing, I guess. I have noticed that it goes by faster on those nights when my husband is in the kitchen keeping me company. Maybe I'll try that more.

Good luck with your goals & habits, everyone!

AeiriMuse

Thankies! I thought they were decent ideas. hehe Funny enough, I got into just avoiding going out. (I'm tired of going out places with my roommate when what I really want is to go out with my workaholic boyfriend. So, I've decided to just wait until he finally has a day off.) So, that has helped with preventing overeating a TON. lol

Though, now I have another habit I'm trying to get rid of: sitting with one leg folded under me in a chair.

I have this horrible habit of tucking one of my feet under my other leg when I sit at a computer. It makes for a nice arm cushion to lean on; however, it cramps my knee (the joint hurts really bad after a while) and cuts the circulation off to my leg--resulting in pins and needles in my foot (one of the most ticklish places I have). I'm already trying to keep myself from doing this, but every once in a while I don't catch it.

Keepcalmanddontblink

Mine is pretty simple. Stop mindless snacking. I've been at this for 90 days and its gotten a lot easier for me, but I can still slip pretty quickly back into eating a lot at night.
I save calories for just that reason, so I don't go over, but if I could shut that part of my brain off, I would love it.

Back when I first started this, it was so bad, I had to go upstairs and sit in my room to avoid food. Of course, my legs and feet hurt and I couldn't breath after going upstairs, or really breath just moving around, so it was a good motivator to stay in my room to avoid snacking.

Now stairs are no longer and issue, and breathing has improved, and I really can sit with my family watching TV, without too much snacking, but the desire is still there. I just wanna squash that, and I think I will be okay.

AeiriMuse

I've chewed gum before to avoid it during movies. I've also gotten in the habit of eating a meal before Jake and I go to the movies so that I don't feel like I need anything from the stands before going into the theater. If anything, I make sure I have a big bottle of water.