I was off for the 4th of July and had no plans other than to relax after a rather trying week thus far. The problem with that, however, is with keeping to the diet plan. When I am at work, I am distracted by my various responsibilities and between that and the protein drinks between meals I don’t have much time for temptation, except when my colleague and I discussed the front window of the Donut Pub near the office. That was rough.
Anyway, this brings me to the idea of this Breaking the Mold methodology I am developing. It is easier to take on new habits when normal routines are disrupted. So, for example, while traveling or starting a new job, building new habits (good or bad) are easier, and are more likely to stick even when returning to old routines. The reason I have done so well with my diet, especially with cutting out sugar, was partly since my responsibilities at work were expanding, and also taking on the KMA 6-week challenge thrusted me into a rigid routine that was very foreign to me – uncomfortably so. I simply did not have time to shift into my usual routines and so the new routines were both a benefit to my health and weight as well as the needed distraction from my old habit triggers.
This brings me back to why today, after 4 weeks, I had such a challenge. It was the first time I had a day to myself with no plans, no side projects, no problems and thus no distractions. I was tempted to make my infamous cheese platters and snacks or toast an english muffin and load on some butter and have with my tea. I felt more hungry without the distractions – the habitual hunger more than real hunger.
So what did I do? First, I cleaned a bit, did some random chores, and packed my lunch and some of my breakfast ingredients for tomorrow. Then I exercised a bit. Now I am relaxing with the cats sipping some nice pu-erh tea and will be getting ready for bed very soon.