...day by day nothing changes, but when we look back, everything is different?" ~C.S. Lewis
Abso-freakin-lutely.
Nothin' seems to have changed with my routine and what I choose to do day to day to maintain my weight loss, but oh how different I feel and look because of that routine I've been rockin'.
I'm now stronger.
I'm now healthier.
Why do I keep doing what I do to be successful?
I've started to wonder if I am genetically wired toward being slightly obsessive-compulsive and a structured, routine-following kinda gal?
Can I please blame my genetics? If I can, I would like to point out that I think it has skipped a generation (but that's a discussion for another day).
Is this what makes me successful with the continued maintenance of my 115 lbs weight loss?
As you know, I do love me a nice color-coded spreadsheet.
I am usually confused when I hear a bandster say, "I am so sick of eating the same things every day, I need new food ideas." Huh? New ideas? I literally have about five to seven meals that I just rotate through out the week. I've been eating the same stuff. Some foods have stayed with me since even the pre-op days. That's almost three years.
In case you haven't noticed, I love being
inside my comfort zone of routine and structure.
If you look up "control freak" in the dictionary, I'm afraid you just may see my pic.
To say that I live "inside my box" is an understatement.
That's why I occasionally push myself out of my comfort zone and try new things.
Like how I literally pushed myself out of an airplane at 10,000 feet up in the sky a few months ago.
Or how I wore a bikini in public last month. That was a HUGE step for me. Way bigger than the sky-diving.
Or how I went on vay-cay to Florida recently and didn't feel the need to make a
clipboard of fun and schedule every. single. moment. of. each. day. I'm finally learning to go with the flow on certain things in my life.
But I think that my routines help me in maintaining my weight loss. Routines help me create structure.
My life is crazy busy...job, friends, family life, staying on track with food/exercise, etc.
Routines help me avoid bad decisions that can happen when my life gets busy (which is often) or when the "food pushers" strike.
For example: when in the morning, a coworker pops into my office and says to me, "Hey, let's go get donuts in the cafeteria!"
I can respond with "no thanks" and resist the temptation because I always have my Greek yogurts waiting for me in the fridge.
For me, making decisions about food in the spur of the moment or on the fly can lead to BAD food decisions.
Yep. Welcome to Borings-ville.
Will I get burnt out?
Will monotony creep up on me?
It hasn't yet in in almost three years.
I guess those are some of my worries in maintenance.
But don't you worry, if you've made it this far down into this post and still don't undestand my level of cray-cray, just remember, it's a control freak thing, I wouldn't let you understand.