Working Toward New Habit Development

I have spent 17 (I forget how many days I went jogging in the beginning, so maybe more) out of the 31 days of March working out. 

I call that a good accomplishment. My habits are moving in the right direction, so the new goal for April is to keep that momentum going.

There are things that I'm decent at doing- like motivating myself to work out and getting more greens into my diet- and things that I'm hitting a brick wall attempting to accomplish- like quitting smoking. Beating myself up isn't going to solve the problem. I think about these failed goals, but I don't dwell on them too much. It's kind of like setting a project aside that you're stumped on; picking it up later may produce better results.

When in the beginning phases, my success comes greater when I start with daily goals: "Tomorrow I'm going to get up and work out first thing in he morning". As I succeed goals eventually become habits, though it takes a long road to reach that stage. Until then, I focus small to avoid the feeling of defeat which is often followed by the desire to give up. 

Goal #1: progress weekly workout goal to monthly goal for April: Keep up the T25 workout as recommended 5-6 days a week.

Goal #2: continue daily goal of reducing the amount of cigarettes consumed

Goal #3: continue daily goal of reducing calorie intake to between 1200-1500.

Goal #4: continue daily goal of getting more greens in diet with progressing of hitting USDA's recommended serving of 2.5 cups each day- research ideas of incorporate fruits/ veggies into work lunches

Goal #5: begin daily goal of stretching at work; at least every 2 hours, progressing to every hour.

The last goal was inspired by this article I recently found. My college experience has developed a habit for fact-checking, so I perused the article further by researching other sites like juststand.org and looked into the research into it. I'd heard tons of people say sitting all day is bad for the body, but never looked into 'just how bad' until now. Cardiovascular (makes sense) , neck strain, back pain (yeah, my neck and back have been bothering me more lately), cancer (could this be a cause of dad's cancer?), slower metabolism (great, so I'm undoing all my morning workout!), the development of musculoskeletal disorders, the list goes on... though I do have to roll my eyes over vague statements many of these articles make that sitting "increases your chance of death!" Yeah, so does breathing in the polluted city air of San Diego but people still flock to this city year after year. I hate statements like that, which are often said just to create sensationalism.

While the research is a bit conflicted over exactly how much movement you should be getting in your day, generally it seems to agree that moving for a few minutes every hour will help. That's a tough habit to break for my cushioned keester, though. Like every other goal, I'm going to start slow and build to that.

To a successful April and new habit building!