Habits

I want to tell you of the value of habits.

I am visiting my daughter and son-in-law in LA.  They live in a neighborhood with hilly, uneven places to walk.  It’s not what I’m used to.  It’s not the most fun and/or confortable place to walk.

I just couldn’t sit in the house and watch TV.  My habits were too strong.  I have gone out three times to walk today.  I managed to find a route I could handle and have walked OVER 5 miles so far.   I could see me getting in some more milage this evening.

Yesterday we drove almost 450 miles.  The trip meant that a stop at a fastfood place.  I ordered the grilled chicken and checked the calorie chart on the wall.  Even though I was tired at the end of the day, I managed to consume fewer calories than I burned.  I also go up early and walked with my dog as much as possible.  I was able to do this because of habits.

I have been told and I believe that if you can do something for about 28 days it becomes a habit.  The same is true with the foods you like.  My tastes now prefer a nice piece of fish instead of a piece of beef.

I find that I have the most trouble sticking to my habits and tastes when I let myself get tired.

My dog helps me to handle that because she will not let me sit when she wants to walk.  She also expects a portion of my food.   She helps me to stay on track.  She also proves my belief that we will do things for others that we won’t do for ourselves.