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The importance of awareness

Posted by Trish Milburn Nov 22 2011, 12:01 am in eating healthy, exercise, goals, Trish Milburn

Something we’ve talked about before here on Healthy Writer is the importance of awareness — of what we’re eating, the exercise we’re getting, our body chemistry, any number of things that can contribute to the success (or failure) of our health and fitness goals.

One of the pitfalls I’ve become aware of personally is that when I really get into writing a book, especially when I’m approaching a deadline, I tend to not be as diligent about my health and fitness. After a day of cranking out pages, I’ve more than once given in to the “I’m too tired to cook” or “I’m too tired to exercise” excuses. The thing is, if I were to make myself cook healthful meals and get in my exercise, chances are my writing output would be improved.

I was especially aware of this pitfall yesterday as I started writing a new book. I was determined to meet all of my goals for the day, not just the writing ones. And by taking regular breaks to exercise, I did manage to get 10 pages written as well as 1 hour of bike riding and 30 minutes on the treadmill. And I finished reading an issue of the Romance Writers Report while on the bike. It felt good to accomplish all those things.

I will admit that I didn’t do so well on the eating part. I had a good breakfast of oatmeal, but lunch and dinner were not-so-good pizza leftovers. But tomorrow, I’ll reach a little higher to get my 10 pages written, get in 1 to 2 hours of exercise, AND eat healthful meals. That’s what awareness can do for us — help us see what we’ve done well and not so well so that we can strive for improvement the next day.

What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself this year that has helped you move farther along your journey to a healthier you?

3 Comments

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3 Responses to “The importance of awareness”

Michelle Styles says:

November 22, 2011 at 4:47 am

I think doing Tracy Anderson really made me healthier. It certainly has made me much fitter. One of the big things I learnt is that you have to make working out a priority and fake the habit until you make it a habit. It has to become like brushing your teeth. 6x per week. 1 hr of cardio plus a half hour of muscular strengthening work.
The same thing with eating healthfully. You need to learn what your triggers for cravings are, the foods which make you bloat and the foods which control your blood sugar levels. I think thinking about using a traffic light zone appraoch to eating works wonders as life is far too short for food points. 80% controlled targeted nutirition/ 20% guiltfree unhealthy eating with everything supported by my workouts. Splurging is allowed as I have a plan to deal with the consequences sort of thing.
One of the hardest things is AFTER you have lost the weight. You need to workout a lifelong scheme to maintain it. It is about realising that you are making a lifestyle change rather than going on an exercise programme or a diet.

Reply
- Trish Milburn says:
  
  November 22, 2011 at 8:29 am
  
  You make excellent points, Michelle. You sound as if you’ve found a wonderful balance.
  
  Reply
  - Michelle Styles says:
    
    November 23, 2011 at 4:33 am
    
    Trish –
    I have spent the past weeks, really researching the maintenance part and there are very few books devoted to it and the changes in body image etc you go through. Lots of self help books on diet and exercise.
    One thing I have learnt is to use the scale as a tool to help you determine which foods are making you bloat or cause cravings. Once you know, you can step away from the scale or scale it back to once a week just to keep tabs. I find this concept of knowing wonderfully enpowering as I am no longer powerless over what I eat.
    And it is really the whole awareness thing.
    Thank you by the way for your Biggest Loser updates as I do so enjoy living vicariously!
    
    Reply

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