A successful routine...

People want to know all the time what made me successful in losing weight.  The easy answer, of course, is eating less, eating better, and exercising.  But that answer is incredibly simplistic for the changes that had to be made to enable me to lose the weight.

There are other things that I can point to - part of my daily routine - that frankly, I can't stand, but that I believe has been CRUCIAL in allowing me to lose the weight.  And they are things that I continue to this day which is why I believe I have kept the weight off.

Let's look at last night - a fairly typical Monday.  After working all day I got home and began unpacking my duffle bag that I bring to work every day.  I emptied it of the dishes that contained my lunch earlier that day and brought them into the kitchen.  Then I went into our closet and emptied out my workout clothes.  I then took out the DVD I had worked out to during my lunch hour and put that in with all out other workout videos.  

I picked out the DVD I decided I would do today.  I packed the duffle bag back up with new workout clothing and the DVD.  Then I got undressed and picked out the outfit I would wear today and laid it out.  

From there, I headed back into the kitchen to prepare what we would have for dinner - such as cutting up potatoes and putting vegetables in the steamer.  

Then I took a few minutes to use the computer before Marc and I headed down to our workout room for my second workout of the day.  Then it was time for dinner.

After dinner, it's back into the kitchen.  I decided what we would have for dinner tonight and got that out of the freezer.  I then decided what I would have for lunch.  I prepared all that and put it in the fridge.  I knew that Marc would be making eggs for us this morning, so I didn't have to get anything out for breakfast.

This morning I got up and could just grab my duffle bag, put my pre-packed lunch in it and head out the door.  It gets tedious and it sucks sometimes.  But why is this organizational routine so important when it comes to my weight?

Well, you know that I am NOT a morning person.  If I didn't do those things, it would be too easy to veer off plan. If my clothes weren't laid out and ironed, I might rush around and not eat breakfast.  And then I would be starving when I got to work and would be looking to grab anything to stuff in my mouth.

If I hadn't packed my duffle bag, I might not get around to it.  So I would get to work with no workout clothing.  Or what if because I was rushing around I forgot my sneakers - or a DVD?  Well, hell, now I'll have to skip my workout. 

If I didn't have lunch packed already, it certainly wouldn't get done in the morning.  So I would go to work without a prepared lunch.  While I could still go out and get something healthy - it would also be easy to rationalize being right across the street from Papa John's and doesn't their pizza smell good? 

And then around 3:30, I would be thinking about what we would have for dinner.  I would realize I had nothing planned and nothing defrosted.  I could stop at the grocery store on the way home -  but I could also start thinking how easy it would be to grab Chinese food!

So I can say that for ME, despite this routine that, frankly, gets pretty old - it's a centerpiece of making sure that I continue the healthy lifestyle.

But I'll tell you - there's no better feeling then Friday nights - not having to pack up or lay out clothes for the next day!!!  But as with so many things on this journey, I see this as another version of - "You don't have to like it, you just have to DO IT!"