Habits Can Be Very, Very Good...

So, it was back to work today!  It's been awhile since had to do my "regular" schedule of workouts, and I wondered how it would go for me as I transitioned back to school.  Add to that the pool which I would normally visit on Monday mornings before work had a furlough day today to save the county money, and I was a bit more concerned than I might have been!

You will be happy to know that I managed to do the good, healthy things that I needed to do...regardless of the fear I had that I wouldn't be able to get back into routine easily.  I began the day with a mile walk around the neighborhood near my school.  I drove there early with the specific intention of doing this aerobic workout since I couldn't swim today.  I ended up setting a personal best time on that mile...16:30!  A full minute better than anything I've ever done on the treadmill...and then some!  Then I ate small portions at the delicious staff breakfast catered by our administrators for the staff.  I drank all of the water I needed to drink during the day, ate a healthy lunch, and then worked out this evening with Angie. 

My point in all this is not to account for my day minute by minute, choice by choice...although I'd be OK doing that on a day like today!  What I'm really trying to say is that habits can be very good things for us.  I needn't have worried about work starting up again.  I've formed some healthy habits that I was able to slide back into easily today.  Making healthy choices isn't as difficult for me as it used to be.  It's a much more natural, comfortable thing to choose lower calorie choices, eat smaller portions, drink a lot more water (well, not so natural...but I do it!), and exercise on a regular basis. 

There was a time when I thought I'd NEVER be at this place where I could make the statement I just made.  When I was 81 pounds heavier, sedentary, and suffering from a great deal of knee pain, I could have told you all the right things to do to change my situation, but I didn't have the will to change it.  Once I reached the point where it was no longer an option for me...my trigger point as we've talked about before...changing my bad habits into better, more healthy ones wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it might be.  Oh, the WORK is hard...I've earned every one of those 81 pounds I've lost...trust me! But changing my mindset, making new habits...that part of this is done. I had no reason to be worried.

And the really cool thing about that is that because there was that fundamental change in how I approach life...once I finish losing this weight, I won't ever go back.

So...what old habits do you need to ditch...and what great new habits will you put in their place?