Shrinking Jeans - 21 Day Challenge #3

I've completed two weeks of the 21 day challenge and I'm not as excited as I wish I were. My goal habits were:

More sleep - at least 6 1/2 hours a night.

Eat regular food but track my Weight Watcher points religiously.

Exercise at least 30 minutes a day.

I only faltered in one area and maybe it makes sense that I can't post a loss since last Wednesday. I just haven't been getting my sleep. I like to get up in the morning and stay up. And I like to stay up late at night and watch TV with Mr. Right. We always have almost 100% of our recording time used up so there are shows that HAVE to be watched! (And I know how dumb that sounds.)

Here's what's bad about staying up late and not getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep profoundly affects our will power. I read once that people on 12 step programs are urged to not get sleep deprived lest their will power starts to slip and it makes perfect sense to me. We just aren't as strong, sensible, or motivated when we're running on no sleep. In addition to that, when we're staying up too late, we do things to help us stay away. Like munching. At least I do. As long as I'm eating, I'm awake. And then there's the fact that longer awake hours give us more time to eat. And that's something I don't need. So there you have it.

Thanks to Shrinking Jeans and my exercise and my point counting - no matter how bad it was, I maintained. And next week I'll lose. Maybe it will take me a little bit longer to establish this 'more sleep' habit but whatever it takes is what I'll do.

I want to be healthier, more energetic, and happier and I think the road to these goals is in the habits I can create. Thanks Shrinking Jeans for not letting this uninspiring week de-rail me.

Essentials

When I muse about a cheerful countenance, I wonder how to make my face look joyful when my insides just feel normal. Not joyful and absolutely not miserable. Just normal. I think we should all reflect the joy that we, deep down, feel just to be alive and part of this amazing world. But I think some of us, okay me, forget and are just lazy about the image that we present to our brothers and sisters on this earth. And we owe each other more than that. When we see joy we tend to feel joy. And around and around it goes.

So, my musings lead to this. Sleep. It's essential and when we're tired, it's very hard to radiate great happiness. We need our sleep. All of it, not just some of it. I have a hard time going to bed early at night. I don't know if I'm afraid I'll suffer some sleeplessness or if I'm afraid I'll miss something; but, I tend to stay up way too late every night. So the first thing I'll do is change that. I really believe that sleep changes everything. It changes how ambitious we feel each day and, most of all, it helps provide us with the self discipline we need to accomplish the things that are truly important to us, like a cheerful countenance.

So starting tonight, I'll be in bed by eleven p.m. This is a challenging week to start this new habit because I'm on vacation and not doing any traveling, but if I can do it, I know that my vacation will be much more rewarding and productive. And I'll be a lot more likely to wear that cheerful countenance that will be a blessing to my family and everybody else I encounter.

We'll see how that works out.