I think everyone that is trying to make some kind of life change will agree that the hardest part is self-control. Choosing a goal and even planning for that goal is the easy part, in my opinion. It gets tricky when day after day, there are temptations leading you away from your new lifestyle. I’m trying to tackle two different goals at the same time: quitting smoking and beginning a consistent work out routine. I want to make my health a priority and stop making toxic choices. So far, so… meh. I won’t lie and say that I quit smoking cold turkey. I’ve done that in the past and actually had good results, but, for whatever reason I haven’t done that this time around. I honestly think that I was just giving into daily temptations. Social functions for the holidays resulted in a couple glasses of wine and cigarettes, which lead to waking up the next morning like ugh. Excuses, excuses.
I’m definitely on the right track though. I’ve been drinking water like it’s my job and I’ve been working out considerably more than when I had a gym membership, go figure. I know that I am fully capable of accomplishing my goals, I just need to overcome daily temptations. I think half the battle is recognizing those temptations/triggers. Here are some I noticed throughout the day (note: I did not smoke at all today).
- Stress: This is a no-brainer. Stress = a desire for nicotine. Enter deadly toxins! Not today for this girl. Instead, I blasted my Taylor Swift CD and sung my little heart out.
- Seeing other people indulge: This is probably the worst for me. Seeing people smoke. Even if I wasn’t craving one at all, seeing someone else do it makes me want to. Stupid mind tricks.
- The domino effect: Laziness = stuffing my face with gross food and well shit, I may as well have a chocolate milkshake and pollute my lungs, too. Why not! One bad choice leads to another and another…
I think that a little incentive to push myself along is a great idea. Or maybe I just really want new pants, whatever. I’m not sure how long I’ll make myself wait, but if I can stop falling back on old habits and start utilizing some new ones, I think a new pair of workout pants are in order. Not Victoria’s Secret yoga pants that I binge watch Netflix in, but actual pants made for getting sweaty and gross. Shopping = motivation. 🙂
& now for the very most important part of a healthy lifestyle… sleep. I have been exhausted all day and I fully intended on being asleep by 9 tonight. Oops.
P.S: After some thought, I decided to switch up my plans for this week. I did arms tonight and I’ll save the booty-killin’ workout for Wednesday, because let’s be honest, I won’t be doing any kind of bending afterwards. 😛
xo,
Amanda
The Fit Life Series 