Spring-Break-a-Habit

When did THIS happen??

Spring Break….ahhhhhh. Vacations, fun….sun. And mortification.

After trying on my bathing suit….I thought – hmmm….I don’t remember that blubber being there? When did cellulite happen over here? Hey….I know I’m 44 – but I didn’t sign up for this???

So – how can I change it? Without it being some kind of boot camp healthy- hell.

How to be healthier? I’m giving it some thought. Well…I am always giving it some thought. Like most of us – I’m not the optimal version of ME (obviously) that I can be. I’ve got some pudge, like I said….I don’t sleep much. My blood sugar has creptup over 100 and pushed me into “pre-diabetic” zone at 105. ::sigh:: (Side note: You cannot have your cake and eat it too!!!)

So I’m always trying to make little tweaks here and there that aren’t painful, whiplash changes. Drastic doesn’t work for me. I run like hell if my routine gets too shook up. LOL

So small…..tiny….ity bity steps.
For instance….last year at this time, I decided to go from 3 sugar cubes in my morning coffee to only 2. By doing that….I saved myself about 5500 calories a year. That’s more than a pound of fat. Do I dare [ad#200x200 Content Adsense]attempt to go to just one sugar cube and NO cream this year?? If so….I’d save myself 12,775 calories a year with just that little tweak. That’s nearing 4 pounds of blubber a year. Considering I’m only carrying about 12 extra pounds now – that would shave it down to 8 pounds easily with NO effort, just a little sacrifice.

Now what about the last 8 pounds?? Hmmmm…..
It would be easy enough to say, I’ll join a gym. Or I’ll join a jogging club? Maybe a spin class? Or hey…Zumba?
Nope.
Not doing it. I know the un-optimal ME enough to know that those options will not happen. BUT – if I would simply add a 30 minutes walk each day (God knows my great big dog would LOVE that!), I could make a big difference. If I just walk at a leisure pace…on flat ground (which I won’t be the case, I live in NC!) – I’d burn about 70 calories.  If I did this just 4 days a week for a year – there’s another 4 plus pounds.

So that leaves me with 4 stubborn pounds to get off my 44 year old body.

Maybe resisting sweets just a 2 days a week….which average about 140 calories each day ( I love having the afternoon or evening treat of a Nature’s Path Chococonut granola bar! Heaven!) So two days a week – I don’t let myself have this….I just saved myself almost 60,000 calories a year! That’s 16 pounds???????????????

Yes – it all works in theory. But what about in practice? Well….there’s nothing hard here. I’m not going on The Biggest Loser and doing 4 hour workouts every day. I’m not being given a diet of celery and tofu.

My point is…that tiny little changes…..changes that aren’t extreme and aren’t painful, can make a HUGE difference.

That’s a 24 pound a year difference for me. And I probably wouldn’t miss the extra sugar, cream and granola bars once I got used to it. (Normally about 3 weeks to change a habit.) I certainly don’t miss having THREE sugar cubes – I actually wonder now how I drank my coffee with 3 sugar cubes. Gross. It was like hummingbird nectar. Gag.

So next week starts Spring Break. A starting point for my tweaking. I’m heading to the beach with the kids. Distracted by the beach and the sun and being away from work – my body is more likely to be ok with my changes.
As long as I don’t fall prey to over doing it with  “vacation” food – I’ll be off to a good start.

Small changes. They do add up. Baby steps.

Anything you could tweak? Or have tweaked that made a big difference?? Share your COMMENTS below. As always – I love to hear from YOU!