Sunday, August 19, 2012

Back to School


It is interesting being a teacher. You kind of get two “New Years”. You get the traditional January 1st, but then you also get the first day of the school year. Today is my last day of summer vacation, and as I think about what is about to happen, I realize it is all about habits. I want to focus this week on not falling into old bad habits and setting new good habits. The first major habit I want to not get in this year is buying pop at work. Tomorrow I am going to pack one of my old lunch boxes with frozen water bottles. I always get headaches at work. It never fails, and when this happens, or when I just need a little boost of energy to help make it to the end, I always head to the pop machine or the snack cabinet we have downstairs. This never helps, so why do I do it? If I keep hydrated throughout the day this will hopefully cut that desire and may even prevent some headaches. I also want to keep some sort of low-fat snack in my desk in case I do get hungry, but I'm not sure what yet.

I want to get in the habit of bringing my lunch everyday. The past two years I told myself I was going to allow myself to go out to lunch once a week, but that slowly turned into whenever I felt like it and before I knew it I was going out more than I was eating in. Think of all the time, money, and calories I would save by not starting this habit up again.

Being a teacher, I can't really control when I eat breakfast and lunch. The one thing I can control is dinner. My biggest downfall area is between when I get home from school and when I eat dinner. It feels like all I do is eat during this time. What I need to do is start making dinner earlier. I often wait for my boyfriend to get home from work to eat, but if I start eating earlier, not only will it cut down on snaking, but it will prevent me from eating dinner right before bed. I will just have to make a plate for my boyfriend and re-heat it when he gets home. He is very understanding and knows what I am trying to do so I am sure this wouldn't be a problem for him.

The final habit I want to focus on is exercise. My boyfriend and I go to the gym for one hour three times a week. I want to get in the habit of bringing my gym clothes with me to school, and on our off days from the gym I want to go for a half hour walk around the school or go to the gym for a light workout.

One of the many great things about getting 2 and a half months off in the middle of the year, is you have time to get out of your habits. For a person like me who has always had bad habits, this is a very good chance to start fresh. The best way to break a habit is to never start it in the first place. So good bye summer. I am sad to see you go, but excited to see what I can do with the new opportunity fall brings me.

Week= -0 Total= -9

Happy Running!
Sally

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