Persistent and Constant

“The secret to success is constancy to purpose.”

~Benjamin Disraeli

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”

~ Benjamin Franklin

I believe the key to succeeding at anything is being persistent and constant.

Don't give up and keep at it. Not half-assed at it....but continually chipping away until you find the angel in the stone.

The last few months I've only been doing half that equation properly. Persistent? Yes. After all,  I am a Scorpio and we never give in or give up :) But the consistency has been lacking in both eating and exercise.  The problem I have is doing both consistently well at the same time.

Funny, cause I'm one hell of a multi-tasker!

There's no magic formula. I just have to do it and I have before.

So driving home tonight on ice and snow covered highways, I made a decision to go back to my 4 x a week workouts. Tues/Thurs/Sat/Sun worked best for me and that's what I'm going back to.  Doesn't have to be a full on, sweat til I drop work out, just move for at least 30 minutes each of those days. I have a race at the end of March so running should be my major activity between now and then as long as my breathing keeps getting better it shouldn't be a problem.

Eating...I do really well most of the time...but most of the time isn't giving me the results I want. I've been pondering the problem of food for the last few weeks and as yet don't have an answer but I'm getting closer. I'll keep you posted. I know I need to count "something" otherwise it is real easy for that 1/2 cup of pasta to become a full bowl again. I need some kind of built in control that I can stick to, guesstimating doesn't work for me.

I like WW because it does have control and healthier foods are lower in points, so it does encourage healthy eating and it allows for the indulgences now and again - and to be completely truthful, its not the indulgences that are my problem. Indulgences are few and far between. It's the "What a crappy day, I'm so tired tonight, I'll just eat cheese and crackers, or cereal with milk, or leftover whatever". Not in huge quantities either, but definitely bigger than they should be and definitely not balanced meals.

When I was first diagnosed with Type II diabetes, I made it my mission to eat to lower my blood sugar and I did that. Although I am still on some meds, I am on the lowest dosage possible and my blood sugar is consistently within the normal range. Some days, I actually forget to take the meds and my blood sugar still stays within normal. My hope is that as I drop more weight and get closer to my goal, that I will be able to go off the diabetes meds completely. Anyway, back then, I refused to eat anything that would have a negative impact on my blood sugar and I did that for a long time until it became a habit to think first and eat second.

Maybe this is what I need to do now? The problem is not calories in/calories out (and this post is not to start a debate on that!), it’s good for me calories in and enough calories out. By “good for me” I mean my body and my health issues and my weight loss goals. I think I know what that is – I just need to find a way to do it – consistently so it works.

I’ll keep ya posted.