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Finger Bouquets Addiction

This summer, finger bouquets became my new favorite hobby. As we move into colder weather, I might have to start making leaf and acorn bouquets and then pine needle bouquets. Who knows? Until then, I’m still in love with this simple happiness habit.

I ask again, why would you walk around empty-handed, when you can walk around with fragrant flowers in your hand? Duh!

Backyard finger bouquet, Finger Bouquet, Pinch Bouquet

Backyard Pinch Bouquet, Finger Bouquet
Pretty little flowers (don’t tell them they’re weeds; they don’t know that) growing in my backyard lawn.

Lunch Break Finger Bouquet, Finger bouquet 8/17/12

I usually take a walk past some railroad tracks on my lunch break where there is plenty of wild flora to arrange in your fingers. This one made it back to my desk and into a cup of water.

Apparently yellow and white varieties are popular in Wisconsin.

My whole life’s ambition is to make each day a little lovelier. There really are easy things that you can do every single day to brighten your spirits and sprinkle in some special-ness. Finger bouquets are one of my favorite ways to gather beauty and visual gold out of the cracks. Flower collecting is a much better habit to be into than crack numbering, don’t you agree? Train your mind to see the flowers, not the junk in the cracks.

Cool, huh? You should try it.

Today’s Gratitude List

A few of my favorite things:

1. Songs sung in rounds
2. First breath of air when leaving the house in the morning.
3. Being short and sitting on a seat with my legs dangling.
4. Fresh mornings when we’re more tender with one another and our inequities from the day before are washed way.
5. Air shows
6. Fresh back-to-school-like supplies
7. Family bike rides
8. Signing Peanut up for school and seeing his excitement at the thought of it.
9. Fresh ideas spinning, spinning, spinning
10. Going to bed early, waking up non-exhausted

Job Perks

It’s official! I am now a brand-new member of the gym again, thanks to my employer. Can you believe this place? Offering gym memberships to all of its employees, among all the other things they do for us? I went last night and, although I had never been inside that particular gym before, I felt like I was right at home. I even walked confidently over to the weight lifting area where all the sinewy dudes were grunting and claimed a bench for my own 20-minute strength routine. (PS, I know it’s not fair to judge other people at the gym, but some of those sinewy dudes had terrible form. I just thought I’d inject that lest you be intimidated by joining the gym because of the likes of these dudes. They are, in fact, imperfect, just like the rest of us.)

I remember walking into a first gym for the first time. It was like walking into a foreign country and not knowing the language, the etiquette, or the popular fashion. But once you start going regularly, taking the gym up on their offer for a free personal training session, attending group classes, and reading the trade magazines (for me, these are Self and Shape), you get to know the territory. If you start watching what other people are doing, you begin to notice habits and patterns. Maybe no one told you that you’re supposed to wipe down the equipment, but you notice several people grab the spray bottle while you’re on the treadmill. Ah-ha, take a note to self… Please, try not to be intimidated (though you will be), try to get into the habit, and just take a look around. We’re all glad you’re here. And you’ll be a gym rat in no time!

What Have You Got to Lose?

Picture courtesy of Sunipix

A lot!

I was thinking about what might make someone motivated to lose weight when they’re sort of apathetic about their size…as in, their potentially-failing health, neutral body image, pleas from children, etc have not been enough of a push to get them to lose weight. These were some of my ideas:

1. Reproduction: Research shows that obesity is related to a host of reproductive problems. Planning to have a family–and a healthy one at that–can be a huge force toward leading a healthier lifestyle. I’ve also read that obese women are at higher risk for early and recurrent early miscarriages. It is highly advised that women get their weight under control to prevent this truly heartbreaking experience.

2. Insurance rates: I have seen instances where health insurance rates doubled as a result of health assessment reports. Talk about reason to lose weight!

3. Monetary incentives: Money, in general, is a good incentive for a lot of people to do anything. I see a lot of games popping up in area gyms and workplaces offering the “biggest loser” a pool of money or other great incentives. Perhaps stats on what they’d save money on if they’d lose weight such as grocery bills, clothing, airline seats (in some cases), gas, the obvious doctor bills and much more would assist in motivating.

4. Altruistic motives: How about encouragement to commit to running a race in honor of a friend with cancer or perhaps “dedicating” a few pounds to premature babies in the NICU (in the form of pledges per pound).

5: Success Stories: Motivational stories have always inspired me personally. When I see someone in my daily life begin to lose weight, I want to know everything about how they did it. It’s almost a stroke of jealousy that stirs up the desire in me. If someone larger than me (and whom I know personally or see in real life) can do it and look great, I want to!

6: I am also highly motivated to “show ’em” when people make rude comments or tease me about my weight or even another aspect of my life. When I came back to visit from my first semester in college, someone made a comment about my more-than-freshman-15 weight gain. That was a wake-up call. Someone else told me to revel in the weight I was at for my wedding because that was the lowest I’d ever be. Well, well, well. Today, after having a baby even, I weigh 15lbs less than I did the day I said my vows. I don’t appreciate being labeled, judged or pressed into a self-fulfilling prophesy of someone else’s. So there!

Not All Opposites Attract

Here’s a little insight into the differences between someone who is healthy and someone who is not. Some of them might be overgeneralizations, but really, the habits between the two groups are significantly different. And in no way am I trying to be insulting, because I myself have been on both sides of the equation and know all too well the upsides and downsides of both. Here’s my experience with healthy vs. not-so-healthy.

1. Enthusiastic about each opportunity to walk instead of drive/Moan at the thought of having to cross a parking lot to reach a neighboring store.

2. Find little ways to incorporate activity into everything, even lunch/Barely leave their desk and would rather not even take the stairs.

3. Find time, no matter what the circumstances or how many kids they have, to work out several times each week/Offer an extensive list of excuses as to why exercise just isn’t feasible.

4. Take pride in trying out new fruits and vegetables and have a recipe collection for common favorites/Most fruits are ingested in juice form.

5. Knows what most fruits and vegetables look like/Not sure where to find an eggplant.

6. Pantries and fridges are full of healthy fare from the perimeter of the grocery store/Boxed meals and prepackaged goods usually make the cut.

7. Maintain a healthy lifestyle long-term/diet on and off; regularly sign up for different weight loss programs and quit after a short time.

8. Thoughts of the deep-frying process make you a bit nauseous/Thoughts of keeping down Brussels sprouts makes you turn up your nose.

9. Take charge, research and implement healthy living strategies/Wait for some miracle cure, supplement or equation to take all the guesswork out and require the least work possible.

10. Comfortable being uncomfortable for healthful gains/Huffing and puffing are avoided at all costs.

11. Have at least a basic idea of how to read nutrition labels and eyeball a serving size/Likely eat much more than one serving and think labels are way too scientific to even bother with.

12. Barely watch television and sometimes work out during commercials/Have at least 2 or more shows each weeknight that they catch on a regular basis.

13. Work at healthful habits one step and small goal at a time/Use an all-or-nothing approach and go all-out only to come crashing to a halt days later.

14. Small setbacks don’t completely derail the healthy lifestyle/A minor slip-up might completely sabotage willpower.

15. Enjoy small indulgences every once in awhile/Try to completely eliminate certain foods, label foods good and bad, and/or go overboard on portion size.

Learning the Licorice Ropes

I can proudly say that I have established a workout habit that has taken a firm root in my calendar. I am very good about the exercise thing. On the other hand, there’s the healthy diet thing. I have heard from a lot of people that they’re good at either one or the other. It’s rare, in my experience, to come across someone who does well with both, with the exception of health professionals. Many even say that one is better or more important than the other for them, which is untrue. Both are equally vital.

Well, I’m the type who does well with exercise and not as well with nutrition. I have improved though in the last year or so with my eating habits.

My best piece of advice would be to learn something about diet/nutrition every day. I like to keep my eye on studies and health news. My favorites are Medline Plus (daily published results from health studies) and Yahoo Health. I don’t necessarily remember or apply everything that I read, I just like to pick up little tips here and there to try. And once you hear the same thing repeated several times, it tends to stick.

The second piece of advice would be to temporarily (or habitually if you can manage it) track your food intake. And I don’t mean estimating. I mean getting out the measuring cups, food scale and restaurant guides to track every morsel. This may sound a little bit obsessive, but once you do it for a few days, you’ll receive some eye-opening information, I guarantee it! I recommend Sparkpeople for a free, comprehensive food tracker. The best I’ve ever found. Just being aware is enough to give you a quick kick. Going back and doing this every once in awhile also helps you bust through plateaus and steer you towards more healthful choices. I, for one, go overboard almost every day on my fat intake and could use a few more vegetables in my diet. I wouldn’t really know or admit that if I didn’t see it on paper.

The final piece of advice would be to use a search engine to look up healthy snacks, and maybe even healthy meals. I keep a list of healthy snacks (such as sliced cucumber with salsa or apples with peanut butter) that I can reference when I head to the grocery store for weekly provisions or the fridge for a nibble. I also have a stack of healthy go-to recipes so I’m never at a loss for what to eat.

I always thought that dieting meant being constantly hungry, deciphering every scientific percentage on the food labels, creating some elaborate menu that would break my budget, or giving up my reason for living (chocolate). But these ideas are so far-fetched it isn’t funny. By making a little headway every day towards something I was not that good at brought me to a place where I feel quite comfortable about what I’m eating.