So my first experiment with micro-changes went… okay.
1) Set my alarm.
This one was the easiest as I could just set the alarm on my phone and schedule it to repeat every day. Sometimes I got up right away, sometimes I snoozed several times, sometimes I ignored it altogether. This micro-change was almost too micro as it didn’t really teach me any new habits or instill any change in me.
2) Drink a glass of water for every cup of coffee.
This one pretty much changed my life. I drank my 8 cups of water every single day because of this challenge. (I drink a lot of coffee.) But more importantly, my coffee intake went down, which made my anxiety go down A LOT. I found myself drinking much more water than just one cup for every cup of coffee.
3) Order a medium latte/mocha from Starbucks instead of a large.
This one was harder to do as I love my frou-frou coffee from Starbucks. I CRAVE my venti (large) latte. I MISS my venti latte. But overall, I stuck to it, sometimes even ordering myself a small instead of a medium. My frou-frou coffee habits still need to come down, though, so I consider this a success.
4) Do 10 jumping jacks after every bathroom break.
This one was ridiculously hard to remember anywhere other than my workplace. It seemed while I was at work, I could easily get this done, but once home, it would completely slip my mind, or I felt like an idiot doing jumping jacks in front of my family. I’m ready to take this one to the next level, but with trepidation as I’m not sure it’s bringing the life change that I hoped it would.
5) Maintain a weight-loss binder.
The goal for this one wasn’t even to follow the binder, just to get used to having it and to get into the habit of looking at it. I RARELY even looked at it. I think instead of renewing this particular micro-change, however, I need to take it a step up or else I don’t see the purpose in even doing it. Why maintain it, why look at it, if I’m just going to walk away from it?
6) Buy a bottle of water at the grocery check-out line instead of a bottle of soda.
Done and done. Super easy. With my water intake upping from #2 anyway, I found myself not really missing soda at all.
So, with that said, here are my new micro-changes for Jan 22-Feb 11.
1) Set my alarm for 6:30 and only allow myself one snooze.
This one is harder as I’m co-sleeping with my toddler right now. I want him to sleep as late as possible, but if my alarm is going off at 6:30 and waking him up, that’s obviously not helpful to his sleep habits. However, I can’t keep being late to work because I’m ignoring my alarm every day.
2) Drink two glasses of water for every cup of coffee.
The end goal here may not be to cut out my coffee intake entirely, just to keep focused on why I’m drinking it. If I truly only drink it because I need to wake up, then I really only need one or two cups. If I drink it because I like it, then I need to work on moderation as a habit. If I drink it because I’m addicted to it, then it needs to go away anyway.
3) Order a tall (small) latte from Starbucks instead of a medium.
Hard, but doable!
4) Do 15 jumping jacks after every bathroom break. Even at home.
I wish I could bold and italicize things on this blog. “Even at home” needs to be underlined, bolded, and italicized. It’s my weakest link right now.
5) Follow at least the snack plans in the weight-loss binder.
It doesn’t do me any good to look at this without doing something with it, and I’m not forming the habit to look at it. This way, if I know I have to plan my snacks around it, I’ll make the habit of looking at it every day, which will eventually lead to following it every day.
6) Carry a water-bottle with me everywhere.
This one will be hard just because I’m forgetful, but if I get in the habit of at least having it with me, it will help me form the habit to choose water over other drinks.
So there’s the new micro-changes for the next 3 weeks.
New year. New me.
Originally posted on SparkPeople.com at https://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=6303799
Brokenness in the Beauty 