Advice from a small town girl

I know it’s hard to believe, but I don’t have much to say this week. Maybe six months of venting is enough.

Even though I’ve strayed from my original topic (does anyone remember what it was?), I haven’t forgotten it. The clock is ticking down and I’m not a whole lot closer to my goal of being healthier by my 60th birthday.

I have managed to lose 20 pounds since the middle of May, when I first began commuting to Weight Watchers meetings in Moses Lake. I haven’t been as diligent as I could be when it comes to tracking what I eat and avoiding temptation. I suspect that I’m going to have to make some serious sacrifices before I succeed.

But succeed I will, by golly.

I think we all need reminders now and then of what’s really important, and I could really have used a few of them over the past week or two. I’ve been stressing about all the (over) commitments I’ve made; worrying about the garden (which insists on producing at its peak just about Deutschesfest time) and all the other things going on.

Time to chill.

I’ve always tended to be the person who likes to think she works best under pressure. You know the one, still typing that paper at 1 in the morning. Or cleaning the house five minutes before guests are due to arrive.

But that’s just a bad, bad habit And habits can be changed.

I’ve heard and read quite a few theories on changing habits. Most seem to posit that simple repetition of a new replacement habit will do the trick. No aversion therapy needed. They don’t seem to agree on just how long it takes to change a habit. Some say 21 days, others 30. Some don’t commit to a specific time frame.

Here’s what I know about changing a habit:

You have to WANT to change it.

You have to PRACTICE changing it.

You have to have PATIENCE changing it.

You have to BELIEVE you can change it.

But most of all, you have to RECOGNIZE it as something that is not healthy, not productive, not helpful.

It’s time for me to pay more attention to all my habits, including the one that causes most of my stress: The habit of saying, “Sure, I can do that.”