lauramich

On one hand, I’ve gotten a lot better about this. I still throw away more food than I’d like, but I’ve gotten a lot more creative about using up bits of leftovers.

On the other hand … sometimes I find myself eating things I don’t want simply for the sake of not wasting them, or eating more than I want so that a little bit doesn’t go to waste. Isn’t it also wasteful to treat my body as a garbage disposal? Especially when taking pains to not waste food runs against my other goal of not overeating and maintaining my weight loss!

I will still continue to make more upfront efforts to plan the use of the food that I buy so that it doesn’t go to waste, but I will also balance this against my need to respect my own wants and my health.

What made the difference: Moving to a house where I have to haul groceries upstairs to get them from the driveway to the kitchen. Carrying things in canvas bags is more efficient than plastic or paper.

Getting into the habit of packing up my canvas bags before heading out for the weekly shopping trip—and leaving a few in the car at all times for quick stops.

Like just about any habit, it becomes easiest to stick to when it becomes a preference. You have to want to do it. I started out wanting to use canvas bags because they seemed to be a more environmentally-friendly choice than paper or plastic. I stick with it because I genuinely prefer using them.

In fact, I’ve even taking to purchasing canvas bags as souvenirs. For example, when we were in North Carolina for vacation this summer, I bought a canvas bag at Harris-Teeter and a nice, insulated canvas bag from Earth Fare—stores not local to me. Now, whenever I use those bags, it’s a small reminder of a lovely vacation!

I exercise first thing in the morning because … that’s the only time I can guarantee that it will get done. If I try putting it off, telling myself that I’ll work out later, I seldom will. So I get up early, before anyone else, and get it done.

Also, I aim to exercise pretty much every day. That way, it’s always a part of my routine, and I don’t have to debate whether to exercise that day or not. If I find myself reluctant to exercise, I might give myself permission to do something more “fun,” or something lighter—but I try to get some movement in every single day. Exceptions: If I’m sick, if I’m traveling and simply don’t have space to exercise or time to squeeze in my workout before hitting the road, if I’m simply too wiped from being up all night with insomnia the night before. That works out to 2—3 mornings per month, on average, that I don’t exercise. Every other morning? I’m at it.