Mental Muscle: Now I get it

One of my favorite magazines has become Runner's World. This months issue has a lot of dedication to Boston, which I very much appreciate. However, tucked in between there is an article entitled Mental Muscle. It was literally like this article was written directly to me.

As positive as I try to be, I am the WORST at negative self-talk during a run. I start telling myself its okay to walk, I negotiate my goals, I remind myself of my progress (which could be positive, but I use it as a crutch). There is no earth shattering advice in this article; in fact, most of it is common sense that once I read I though 'Duh, I DO that!" It is the simple matter of bringing the problem to the forefront of my mind and addressing it.

Reading this article has me inspired for tonight's run. I am going to employ a few of their techniques to get over my own mental road blocks and just make it through my goals. I am pretty excited about it actually. All it took was someone calling me out on something that I do quite frequently, and now I know to watch for it.

Have you ever had something like that?  A road block that was seemingly simple, yet it just took someone calling you out to make you confront the issue?

Wish me luck tonight on my run; I am going to beat my mental negativity.

Working my way to fit,

Kati

Habits/Routines and Challenges

Weight Watcher's new 360 program is all about routines--so I am trying to be very reflective of healthy routines that I have established, and unhealthy routines that I have continued with. One habit that I am going to work to change in to a more healthy routine is that "after school snack."

I am sure this habit goes back to kindergarten--when we get home from school, we have a snack. Unfortunately, lately, as I get the girls' snacks together, I end up making unhealthy snack choices for myself. Its frustrating--yet I still find myself doing it! I count the points, so I know I am okay with my daily allowance, but I would like to make better choices at this snack time.

Here is my plan for my new routine:
1. Take everything in the house, as per usual, and get the girl's milk and snack.
2. Get myself a healthy snack
3. Stay the "H" out of the KITCHEN until time to make dinner.

Its #3 that I have a problem with so I am going to try some things to overcome #3. On nice days, I am going to take the kids outside so that we can play and I can stay away from temptation. On not-so-nice days, I am going to go upstairs and start working on scrap booking and schoolwork binders for the girls. I have found that staying on the same level as the kitchen is just too tempting! I know that if I start a new routine for a couple weeks, it will become a habit. Here's to developing a new routine!

Anyone else have this struggle? What do you do to overcome the "after school snack" temptation?

Working my way to fit,
Kati