Changing My Mindset

I've had a huge problem getting into the grove lately in regards to fitness. I've been beating myself up for not going to the gym and for eating more mini-chocolate donuts than I should. It's starting to wear on me. But, it's not just my weight and eating that needs a tune-up. As Hannah mentioned the other day, this is Twitter to Get Fitter, not "Thinner" or "Skinnier." And my spiritual fitness needs to be in check, along with my finances. I just need a complete overhaul. For me, that starts with my spiritual life. If things are going well with my spirit and faith, then everything else falls in to place. So, here are the changes I plan on making (I know, I know. I tell you every week what I'm going to do differently and then I don't do it. But I'm REALLY gonna try).

• Start reading my Bible every day. I've already started this with Erin. We're doing a daily plan of some of the books in the New Testament. If you want to join us, feel free (this is the plan). If that's not your thing, then at least spend some time in solitude, praying or meditating or even reading. We often neglect our spirit but that's a huge part of who we are; it needs to be refreshed every now and then.
  
• Use Mom's elliptical on the days when my son is at her house (three days a week, usually). It's just too much to expect me to block out extra time at the gym every day right now. I'm just too busy with my commute, working, and trying to get back into town to pick my son up before it gets too dark. He's started going to bed earlier with the time change and getting dark early, so I feel like I don't need to spend any more time away from him than necessary because then I won't have supper fixed until after he goes to bed and that's just too late. I could possibly do some workouts at home after his bedtime but we have hardwoods and don't know how loud I'd end up being after he goes to bed. Using her elliptical will help me start slow with not as much pressure to use all the equipment at the gym.
  
• Drink more water and replace my bad food habits with more reasonable ones. Instead of coffee with the sugary vanilla creamer, I will use just plain CoffeeMate. Or the fat free vanilla latte cream I bought yesterday. It's not as tasty as the full-fat versions, but it's better than black. I'm going to try to drink more hot tea as well. We have free green tea bags here at work, so I'm going to take advantage of that. We also have cold water, so I need to buy a stainless steel water bottle so it will stay cold and I don't have to constantly buy bottled water. I am going to try to avoid sweets as much as possible. I know that will be difficult with the holidays, but if I can just cut down, that will be a major improvement rather than feeling guilty when I have half a sleeve of Chips Ahoy.

So, those are my changes. I think baby steps are key and doing a complete assessment of my life, rather than just trying to change one aspect of it. Often, these things overlap and if you have problems in one area, it may stem from another.