I will be the first to admit, I am a creature of habit. Every day same old, same old. I’m usually up by 8, not my working life ungodly hour of 6, and head straight to the coffee pot. That first cup of coffee makes the day worth getting up for. I’m not a black coffee drinker….ugh! I add my teaspoon of raw sugar and almond milk, which is slightly healthier than my former two teaspoons of sugar and calorie-laden half and half.
Yes, I’ve cut it out before cold turkey and, surprisingly, didn’t get those awful hangover headaches people complain about. I felt fine. I tried tea in the morning but it just didn’t do it for me. Then, I read a study that coffee was good for you, but I didn’t need that to resume. I love my coffee.
There are a couple of intervening steps before I hit the kitchen, however. Upon rising, I head for the scales. Crazy. Everyday I weigh myself….I’m watching the tenths of pounds I’m putting on or taking off. That’s probably borderline OCD.
What to wear? What to wear? I never bother to think about that. I pull that periwinkle blue Fresh Produce beach dress over my head and I am set. For years, my go-to was a black beach dress with a white starfish on the front but, it was becoming riddled with little holes. Did that bother me? Not a bit. And, then, it was gone. I searched everywhere for it to no avail. I couldn’t even accuse Buff Honey of hiding it or throwing it away because he’s worse than me. All of his undershirts are pretty shredded.
So, I broke down and ordered a new, blue one. The hemline’s just a little below my knees…an issue for someone as short as me. Those longer dresses make me look dumpy….not a look I’m going for. But, the short dresses show off my wrinkled knees. Such a dilemma.
I love this part of my day….coffee and the newspaper. In Florida, it’s the Herald Tribune and in Maryland, its’ the Washington Post. Cover to cover. Everyday. I confess to missing the Post when we’re in Florida, especially, the Style section. I cannot remember a day in my adult life when I did not read the paper. For years when I lived in Hartford and Baltimore, I read the morning paper and the evening paper. Sadly, that doesn’t even exist anymore. There’s one paper, no competition. Electronic editions? Not the same.
I mean, how would I do the Sudoku puzzle? Yes, I know there’s an electronic version but I have to use a pencil, especially after Wednesday, when the week day puzzles get increasingly more difficult. It’s a habit. I can’t help it.
After the puzzle comes my daily exercise. A few decades ago, I was doing the Jane Fonda videos and, yes, I was feeling the burn. With two small children and working full-time, going to a gym on any kind of regular basis was not in the picture. Intermittently, I’d go but nothing stuck. I had no gym partner and I was exhausted. I relied on videos I could do at home and that’s when I discovered Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away the Pounds.
I’ve been walking away the pounds for years. There are one, two, three, four and five mile options with strength training thrown in there. But, I was never faithful until I retired and until BH was in the picture. Last week, I read that if your partner or spouse is an exerciser, you will be, too. And, too often, if they stop or slow down, you will, too. Well, BH is never going to stop and that is great for me!
I hate exercising, though. I find it boring, so to keep me engaged, I put Leslie on the computer, muted, and turn on HGTV and watch the reruns. You know, the Property Brothers, Love It or List It, House Hunters, Flip or Flop, the Rehab Addict. I love them all.
Now, I can eat. It’s late morning by mow. Brunch time. I just can’t eat first thing in the morning. I know I’m supposed to, but the Health section in the paper quoted a study that it’s fine not to. Good because I’ve been doing that for decades.
Everyday, I usually eat no fat plain yogurt, with granola and blueberries and strawberries. I’ve never like eggs but I love grits, bacon and sausage. Hey, I’m a southern girl, after all.
That’s my whole morning.
Those are my good habits. I’ve had plenty of not so good habits. Like smoking, which took me years to give up. I was never one of those who had to have one the minute I got out of bed. I was more an evening with wine smoker. I’d give it up for years and then, I would start again at stressful times in my life.
Eventually, I had to go to a hypnotist, because I was so disgusted with myself and knew I needed help. She taught me EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique, which involves tapping meridians in your body to change your emotional attachments to negative things. I know it sounds like a bunch of bunk but it worked for me!
But, now I have this syndrome that I have to shake. I cannot watch television without doing something else. I used to do needlepoint or crossword puzzles. But, now, I play solitaire Mahjongg either on the computer or on my phone. I also play it anytime I have down time. I think if I added all the hours I spent doing this, I could’ve read an entire encyclopedia (remember those?).
I hate that I’m wasting so much time! My God! These are the years I promised myself I would not waste! Maybe I should try acupuncture or meditating more or tapping again.
And, then again, maybe I should just relax.
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