Laminating Makes Things Shiny

Today, I've been reflecting on change. And how cool my new laminator is.

After posting yet another rejig of my Routines earlier this week, and after a less-than-stellar start to the Look Great in 2008 Challenge, last night I sat down and put on my Nerd Hat. I 'prettied up' my Routines page, and added great graphics to Lizzie's Diet Checklist. I also opened up a new document and wrote myself out a 'cheat sheet' of sorts to go along with the Checklist - the foods I'll be eating and their serving amounts. And me being me, I bolded and italic-ed and switched out fonts until my heart was fit to burst. And then I laminated them all.

The Routines sheet went up on my pantry door, preserved for posterity amidst the crazy morning rush (when I might not have a chance to go back and forth between my Home Management Binder). The Diet Checklist and Food sheets are up on the fridge door. Being laminated, I can re-use these week after week with the help of a dry-erase marker. And also...

...they look purdy :)

Then I went to the grocery store, and stocked up on those ingredients I didn't already have on hand. Tonight I'll sit down and make up a menu for both dinners and lunches so that I'm not tripping over myself come midday tomorrow.

Why is it so hard to start and maintain motivation for a new healthy lifestyle change? The first week or two for me are particularly hard, but I know that once I have some sort of positive feedback from the scales, I'm going to feel compelled to keep going. It was like that with the walking during the last Challenge. Some days the absolute last thing I wanted to do was to hit the walking trail but I made myself go because I was already in that mindset. So I'm hoping it will be the same this time around.

I'm also making a major change in another area of my life. From tomorrow, I'm going to try my hardest to break into the 6am Club. This is scary stuff for me - I am an absolute night-owl from way back and its not uncommon for me to hit the hay around 1am or beyond - even on a school night (which means having to get up around 7:15 the next day). Then I spend most of my morning feeling as though I'm walking through wet cement...and compensate with sugar. Not good. So to me, part of the healthy lifestyle thing will revolve around getting a good night's sleep. According to my Routines, bedtime is at 11pm, giving me about 7 hours sleep a night. Realistically, the first week is going to HURT, but the pain will be minimised by going to be early. This, in turn, means I have to be on the ball with my Evening Routine, and in particular, not leaving the 'prep for tomorrow' thing until after 11pm like I've tended to do lately! And I'll step out on a limb here and confess that though I have those Routines in place, I've had a lot of trouble sticking to them. I'll be paying particularly close attention to my newly-laminated Household Routines sheet as I go about my day tomorrow.

I'm also totally going for a walk tomorrow.

I am.

Cheers,
Lizzie