Day 4, Week 3: Dogs mock me and let's talk about eating.

I went to bed last night with every intention of getting up and biking like a crazy woman in the dark.  And then I went and overslept and had to do a short 3-miler instead with the large dog.  My punishment for oversleeping was the large dog running at such an odd angle to me that he almost pulled me in the ditch for all three of those miles.  As you can see, he thought that was freaking hilarious.

Or maybe he was just laughing at my shorts.  Anyway, even if I can't do my scheduled workout, I like to do something.  I read somewhere that consistency is your BFF--if you make an effort to do something every day, you're gonna do that something every day out of sheer habit eventually and get the results you want.  This little gem applies to good habits as well as bad habits, however.  For example, I used to consistently overeat crappy food.  And it showed.

The day I decided to make a change I started with exercise.  I got up and resolved to do 15-20 minutes of exercise in the morning before work.  Yep, I had to get up earlier than normal, but I also knew I had to make time for this new consistency in my life. 

But I soon realized it wasn't just about moving more.  My eating was a tad bit of a problem.  OK, it was around 90% of the problem.  I needed to view food as fuel, not something I did to self-medicate and make myself feel better.  My diet before I decided to get my eating act together looked something like this:

1) Find the most sugary and/or salty food I could find that came in a pre-packaged container

2) Open container

3) Eat all of it

4) Go find more and eat some more

5) Crack open a soda (Dr. Pepper was my drug of choice) and drink it. 

6) Repeat step #5 at least six times a day.

My diet now looks like this:

1) Eat real food. 

2) But not too much.

3) Make sure to eat a variety of real foods. (I have a tendency to eat the same things over and over until I can't stand the sight of them anymore..variety avoids burning out on them.)

4) Eat your veggies, Terie, even if you don't like them

5) Water water and more water

As a result of mainly my dietary changes, I can now wear these AWESOME shoes.  And fit into that dress.  Oh, and run marathons.

The cat on the table in the background is, as usual, unimpressed by my fashion sense.

So, what are the lessons from today's post?

• My large dog is a jerk
• I need to get my biking act together
• Consistency really *is* your BFF-in both exercise and eating
• Exercise helps, but changing your eating will change your body, for better or for worse
• Impressing cats with fashion is hard

Tomorrow's workout: More lifting of the heavy weights-barbell included!