Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Old habits die hard?

Experts say that if you do something 21 times (relatively consecutively) it becomes a habit. That's fascinating.

I'm bad at remembering to floss my teeth all the time. If I did it for 21 days, I'm sure that it would become a habit. In fact, I'd probably never leave the house without doing it.

Why doesn't the 21-day rule ring true for exercising? Or does it? I enjoy exercising and working up a sweat. I'm not sure if I'd call it a "habit", though. If I missed exercising one day, would I suffer from withdrawal symptoms? I might regret not going, or feel less energized - but I definitely wouldn't lament about it.

Or what about dieting for 21 days straight? I'm sure that I'd still crave french fries on day 22, and would have to work hard to avoid them. Does dieting ever become a habit?

Clearly, my blogging is a habit. Otherwise, I wouldn't be wasting all this time in front of the computer and would be at the gym right now, especially since I haven't been since Saturday!

**

The eating has been decent for the last few days, but I broke down yesterday and bought some chocolate. Oh, it was heavenly. I still guilted myself afterward - but been there, done that now - so back on the wagon I climb.

I'm finding that my goal of 36lbs is overwhelming for some reason. I've decided to start breaking it down into mini-goals. My first one is hitting 200. That's 11lbs away. I'm giving myself until the end of May to get there. After that, I'll figure out my second goal.

Well, it's looking like spring is lurking around the corner. The mornings are lit with sunshine, and I can hear birds chirping in the distance...that means that it's time to string up those running shoes again! I'm so excited! The hubby and I are going for a 5K run tonight.

We're a bit stuck for dinner, so we might have to get take-out. There's a really healthy vegetarian place that we'll get food from - I might have the Thai noodles (in a spicy coconut-lemon sauce) with marinated tofu cubes and steamed kale. That'll be a hearty meal after a good run.

3 comments:

psbowe said...

Cool, interesting post...that's all it takes, huh? 21 is the magic number, I might apply it...

Enjoy your 5k.

Anonymous said...

Yeah Its Right. 21 Rule does not go true for Exercising. :)

And Old Habbits Die hard.

:)
Have Fun

Bex said...

OK seriously though...I doubt that experts have studied someone like me!!!!
not exercising, biting my nails, anything...I suck at breaking old habits lol

How was the run?? :)