Chuggin' along

I'm into my 2nd week of consistent regular exercise and I've got to admit --- I'm feeling pretty great. I can't really remember exactly when I started on this path, but that says to me that I'm even more invested in a change this time around. I'm not really dwelling on how long I've been having to workout, nor how long I will have to workout until I reach my goal. This time, I'm looking at it more like a routine change.

I've planned to workout Mon, Weds and Fri for 30 minutes and 30 minutes on either Sat or Sun. My new 15-minute work commute has allowed me extra time in the morning, so I'm taking advantage and working out as soon as I wake up. Getting the workouts over with first thing in the morning is helping a lot with my success rate. Just getting it done before I can talk myself out of it is really key. This has always been the problem with working out after work---I dwell on the idea of working out all day and I usually manage to talk myself out of it by the time I leave work. Then I sit around all night feeling tired from the day, plus ashamed that I didn't workout. With this new routine, exercise is a scheduled part of my morning, just like taking a shower, or making my bag lunch. I'm using the mindset of "It's just another chore I have to do before I can get to work."

The only problem is that I am not as coordinated or energetic right after I wake up, but then again I'm not all that great at the end of the day either. My best time of day to work out is like 11:00 am. At that time, I've had a little breakfast, I'm more alert, and I have a bit of a spring in my step. But that's just not realistic during the work week. So I will settle for slightly sleepy, kinda uncoordinated, but actually accomplishing something!

My eating habits are a lot better too. I think the exercise is helping to increase my metabolism. I'm also getting used to eating smaller amounts of food at each meal, and my body is not as hungry anymore.

In order to keep up with my healthy eating habits, I'm trying to schedule more non-food-related activities in the evenings. My problem is that if I sit around the house after dinner and just watch TV, I will usually get the urge to keep going back to the kitchen for another bite of dinner. And since sitting around the house watching bad summer TV programming is really boring anyway, I'm scheduling stuff that I really like to do that energizes my brain and keeps me occupied without the boob tube. One example is my voice lessons. I'm trying to keep up with these at least once every two weeks. It's helping me to focus on what I love --- SINGING! --- and it's helping me to work on new material for auditions. The excitement of doing something I love also gives me adrenaline through the rest of the night. I want to make more plans to go out and see friends for drinks/dinners after work. I'll just have to be careful to focus on the conversation and NOT the food.

So things are on the up. The job is working out nicely. I feel at ease, and in my element, as an Executive Assistant. It feels good to be back, doing what I know.