Consistency, consistency, consistency

#photoshopgoals 

Back in June, I posted some goals for the month; everyday, garden variety goals that most normal adults do w/out even thinking. When I did the laziest goal recap ever, I realized I need a better way to track goals, even if they are pretty half-assed. I still haven’t come up w/ any concrete ways to track my goals, b/c I’m the kind of person that doesn’t want to put myself out there and risk failure. I’d rather just avoid it, and I’m not alone in this line of thinking: 

“I found that if you have a goal, that you might not reach it. But if you don't have one, then you are never disappointed. And I gotta tell you, it feels phenomenal” -Peter LaFleur, Dodgeball

Since numbers are the hardest thing to fudge, I try to avoid them whenever possible. But like every other woman in the world, I still have a goal weight I’m trying to get down to. Maybe that goal weight goes up a little when I have ice cream for dinner like we did on Sunday, but it’s still something to aspire to.

I weighed myself today for the first time in a few weeks and I saw that I’ve lost five pounds this summer. Five pounds! I know some of that loss is water weight and time of day and the fact that I just went for a run and had to use the bathroom immediately afterwards (if you get my drift…) but I'll take it. I know the scale is just a number and we’re told over and over and over not to put much stock in that number, but what a load of crap. Seeing the number on the scale go down is everything, we all know that. 

I’m not trying to write a weight loss post, since if I were to weigh myself after my hot pocket and potato chip lunch, I’m sure the scale wouldn’t be so kind. I’m not trying to brag, since I’m still not at my goal weight. I’m not trying to change your opinion of the scale, whether you live by weekly weigh-ins or avoid it at all costs b/c it doesn’t tell the whole story anyway. I’m here so when I go back and reread old posts I have proof that I can meet goals I set for myself. 

This whole thing is a result of one of those June goals: work out five times a week. I’ve been doing this since June and it feels good to be semi-active again instead of the actual definition of a couch potato. I get home from work and I change into my workout clothes. That’s that. All the studies on recurring behavior and forming and keeping habits, I’m here to tell you they’re true; we are what we repeatedly do. 

Any tips on making healthy eating a habit? As much as I’m back on the workout wagon, it’s summer and I’m eating ice cream like it’s my part-time job. I think I drank more champagne in the past week than I have in my entire life. I had hot pockets for lunch and am thinking of treating myself to tacos for dinner. When you lose weight, the only acceptable rewards are laden w/ empty calories, that’s just how it works.