I'm failing d*mmit! It's not my fault, right?

When in Rome...this is still not a
good decision - plus it was Utah, not Rome.

So I really want to lose some belly fat and I've been training for a while and yet there is that persistent belly fat! I am absolutely stronger and that is making my body look better thank you very much Mike! I also busted out a stupidly easy crow pose this morning at yoga with my bad*ss arm and core strength. But there are no pounds falling away. Or to be more accurate, there are about three pounds dropping and reappearing.

I don't believe it's about will power - will power is like a muscle and that muscle is helpful but will never be stronger than my mental craziness. For me it's about habits. When I fill out my food journal regularly, I make better decisions. I have to face how many glasses of wine? And is it really all that hard to drink 8 glasses of water? And h*ll yeah I burned that many calories!!

<Biz is AWESOME!

And then I fall away - a stressful day, a work trip, or a night partying. And invariably the next day does not get recorded either. One slip and it feels like I'm starting over again. Why is that? What is going on???

I don't know and I won't have the answer here but I have some ideas. I just starting reading a book called Making Habits Breaking Habits by Jeremy Dean. I am through just chapter 1 but so far so good. First thing - the whole 21 days to form a new habit really only applies to tiny goals. So I need to plan for more time and help or break my goals down into much smaller ones. Also, context is a big influence - from your general environment to the people you hang out with.

Bad context - anything with sugar in it placed where I can see it. It will get eaten. Period.

Good context - When I check in with Biz every day at 3 when my alarm goes off - I'm more likely to complete my food journal. If I'm having a crappy day, I get a pep talk and encouragement back because Biz is awesome. No matter how many days I slip up, when I see Mike once a week I get back on the horse.

When context changes, habits are more easily changed (a move, a new job, having a baby, getting divorced). So I'm thinking it's during these times where it's good to break a bad habit, but also watch out for your good habits! This is when they can slip. Sure enough, last business trip I did better than usual to start but fell off the wagon two days in and it took two days at home, a check in with Biz and a training session with Mike to get back on the wagon. ARGH!

I will say that Mike checked in on my food journal today. THAT HELPS! Accountability is a big deal. I think that will help especially in the beginning of habit formation when it's harder.

But we shall see! I'm hot on this habit thing and hopefully the research will give me some good guidance on how to move behaviors from hard to automatic. My #1 goal is to fill that journal out religiously!!!

On another note - today was haaaaaaaaaaard! But it was so good. Super intense starting with upper body and finishing with lower. It really pushed me mentally and at the end made the victory of the finish so very sweet. If only I can stay conscious enough to enjoy it.

Big thanks to my buddy Jim who came in for the next
session. Sorry I couldn't pay you back man - I fell into
a coma shortly after this picture was taken.

~Heather