Over the last two years, I've done a ton of reading on health & nutrition, but in order for me to make some of my bigger life-changes, I had to learn about habits, happiness, and willpower.
Funny how these things are all interrelated!
So as it turns out, modifying a new behavior into a habit takes at LEAST 21 days, and sometimes up to three months! During that time, we have to burn willpower to keep us on track, and that effort lowers happiness. That makes staying on track harder, and without measurable success, makes it more likely we'll return to our old comfort zone & happiness set-point.
Finding the new set-point has been a challenge, but I am here to attest that it CAN be done!
I have a whole slew of new habits. Some are new items I do, some are old actions I let go.
For instance, I no longer drink soda, I no longer drink coffee, I no longer have Cable TV (no more sitting & watching 4 hours of TV a day!), I no longer eat Fast Food or heavily Processed Food.
I also have things I've added to my routine, like always eating breakfast. I walk 10,000 steps a day, I hit Aqua Fit twice a week, I ride my bike each week, I eat at least 6 salads a week, and I do not allow anything in my house that is not a food that's 'on plan' for me. (Even some on-plan foods are kept out, as I don't trust myself with a week's supply of certain super tasty items. Like grass-fed beef jerky strips, or 85% Dark Chocolate)
Each & every one of these habit-changes has been a struggle, and I've learned to not try to change too much all at once.
It's gone well, but after 18 months of constant change, I can feel a bit cranky. My bandwidth for change tolerance has gotten a bit thin, especially as I've seen my success (weight loss) plateau a bit.
A friend recently asked me if I was going to change things up "now that Paleo isn't working anymore". Well, that question really knocked me back a bit...
My Paleo plan is absolutely still working just fine, thank you! What ISN'T working anymore is me doing the exact same thing as I was doing 6 months & fifty pounds ago.
Success isn't always just measured in weight loss, either. I'm still wonderfully healthy, sleeping well, with GREAT energy throughout my day! Paleo is working, I just need to adjust for a bit more calorie restriction.
So, (sigh), I've been changing things up a bit, *again*!
A week at the beach and some other vacations have thrown more than a few monkey wrenches at me - but my eating stayed solid, and while some Bourbon got past the 'network censors', I also managed to keep up a fair amount of activity.
Now that I'm back in The Land Of The Cubicle Dwellers, I'm instituting a basic change to my scheduled eating.
Putting it plainly, I eat 4 times a day. My 'three squares' of breakfast, lunch, and dinner are damn solid, on-plan, strict Paleo low-carb. However, my "4th Meal" was adding 300 to 600 calories each day, filling a hole each afternoon around 4:30. Since I have lunch at 11:30, and no dinner until 7:30 or 8pm, that was a LONG stretch for this foodaholic to not nibble! I was finding packs of Almonds (500 cal!!!), and I figured out THIS was the reason I don't have a daily 500 calorie deficit.
My plan?
I now get my daily lunch salad an hour later, and I get it with two to-go boxes. I save half for 4pm, and essentially split my lunch in two, completely eliminating 4th meal.
It's tasty, and it's working, but I miss my crunchy Almonds, and that has made me a tad grumpy post-vacation.
I'm sure it's not the lack of Bourbon...
Once this new habit has soaked in a bit, I'll add in lifting weights twice a week, and bump my bike ride to twice a week.
Eventually, I want to eliminate my 4th Meal altogether, but this interim step feels reasonable, and more likely to lead to success than trying to jump the chasm 100% all at once.
Baby steps, one foot in front of the other...
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