Healthful Habits

 

This is an ironic post to follow the one about love tasting like a jamocha shake. I acknowledge it! We are nearly a month into this new year, officially hitting the time when so many have abandoned their good intentions for the year. It’s so easy to do. The discipline of pressing on is exceedingly difficult. What’s the saying? If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

            Ryan and I have clawed our way into this year, grasping desperately at some of the habits we intended to change about our lives. Two of those were health-related, so I thought they deserved a spot in our conversation this week.

            Before January even arrived, I spent a couple of hours laying out the meal plans for our entire month. I have a secret hope that if I can keep this up for a “mere” twelve months, I will have a nearly-lifelong meal plan structure that I can use in years to come, saving myself so much time. I can swap out meals here and there for variety, but I won’t have to sit and really work through hard-core planning in the future if I’m consistent this year.

            I suppose it remains to be seen if I can continue this, but I’ve worked hard at January, anyway! In the interest of transparency, I will confess that the thing I’ve hated most about our January meal plans has been cooking when I’m bone-weary and don’t want to do it. But I also have tried so hard to view cooking as an act of worship. I’ve been praying as I cook, thanking God for providing for us financially so we can purchase the food and for giving me a love of working in the kitchen so that creating healthful meals for the two of us is something I am able to do and (usually) want to do.

            And on those days I really don’t want to participate, I remind myself that this is part of the discipline. As my health coach told me last year, if nothing changes, nothing changes. If I want to see change in who I am, I have to put in the work of cooking healthful meals.

            I remember one Sunday, in particular, we were driving home from church, and the meal plan was to make homemade pizza with a healthy crust and healthy toppings. The only thing I wanted to do on that drive home from church was to swing through Little Caesars and get a hot and ready box for home. Ryan talked me out of It, and though I don’t know that I could be accused of being overly happy about it in the moment, I was glad for his accountability in the long run.

            In full disclosure, there was another day, later, when we were running behind and decided to get the Hot and Ready box from Little Caesars. All things in moderation. We did well once, and we gave in once. Overall, we’re improving.

            We still go out to eat. We still get treats. But the bulk of our food is prepared at home in healthful ways.

            And then there are the workouts. We started at the beginning of January, and I wish you could have been here to see me on day five. Day one? Leg day. Day two? Upper body. Day three? Abs and core. Thank goodness for a recovery day on day four, because I couldn’t move ANYTHING by then. Day five was dumbbell day, and I told Ryan I enjoyed that one most of all. He was gone on day six, when I did a HIIT workout on my own. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that every other move was a burpee. EVERY. OTHER. ONE. I hate burpees. They are my least favorite exercise of all time. And I had to do them for half the workout. I was mostly belly flopping on the floor by the end of it. It wasn’t pretty. I think Lexi thought I was injured. She was hanging over the baby gate, whining and looking awfully concerned. I tried to reassure her that I was okay, but I’m not sure I was very convincing.

            But here we are, almost a month in, and we’re still going. We’re still cooking healthful meals. We’re still working out. We’re still attempting to incorporate rest and good conversation and all the things that make life well-rounded without including a single dumbbell.

            It’s hard to make new habits. It’s hard to carve out the time. It’s hard to keep going when you’re bored and tired and sore and really want nothing more than to go back to the blessed familiar. It’s hard when the people around you aren’t used to the new schedules and presume you have all the same time and energy to do whatever you used to do. New habits are an adjustment ALL the way around.

They are, however, completely doable – with grit and determination! Don’t give up just because it’s uncomfortable. I’m cheering you on today, friends! Let’s keep going and pursuing our best work.