This is not a resolution…

(I have set my 30 minute timer, so this time I shouldn’t write too too long, heh….)

I, like a few of my friends, cannot make and expect to keep New Year’s resolutions. I tend to want to make them but by February, I can’t even remember what they were in the first place. So, that is why this is Not A Resolution. This is a Life Change.

Last night, Robert and I were talking, and I sort of blurted out of nowhere that I was really unhappy with the way my body looks. I pointed out my knees, my thighs (front and back), my stomach, my ass. I could keep going, but last night I was really focused on my lower body apparently. We agreed that not only do we need to start taking our health much more seriously, but we also have to work together to help each other meet our goals. Unfortunately, this semester Robert is working five days a week 45 minutes away from home. Yesterday was our first day of this new schedule, and before he left work, I asked him if he’d like to take the dogs on a walk before dinner. By the time he made it home it was too dark to walk safely…it was 5:30 p.m. This is going to be our normal schedule.

So, we started talking about this. Do we wait until Spring when we “spring forward” an hour and get some daylight at 5:30 p.m.? That seems a little wasteful. Way to get a jump start on exercise, huh? Rather than try to do that, we decided that we would try something else. Robert wakes up at 6 a.m. every morning, and I will join him on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting next week when my school reopens. But what’s the real difference between 5:30 and 6? (Yes, yes, I know. Half hours in the mornings can be extremely important, but if we go to bed earlier, it shouldn’t be that difficult.) If we already plan to get up and get ready for work at 6, when why couldn’t we just get up at 5:30 a.m., take the dogs on a half hour walk around the neighborhood, and then come home and get ready for work at 6? It doesn’t seem like it will be that difficult of a goal.

Our days will be longer, sure, and we might have to take a power nap some afternoons. But! I also know that the more exercise I get, the better I eat, the better I sleep at night, and the more energetic I feel during the day. Robert also pointed out that once we get the dogs into a routine, they’ll help us wake up at 5:30. And I just can’t say no to Annie when she comes to wake me up. Her face is too cute.

In addition to giving us some alone time together as well as an exercise routine we can stick to, waking up at 5:30 every weekday morning will get me up on my days off. I will be able to schedule earlier personal training sessions and get myself to work right away. I am miserable grading first thing in the morning. So, I’ll write instead, take a lunch break (and maybe go to my spin class, if they haven’t changed the schedule), and grade in the afternoon. It’s all about knowing myself and working with the best patterns for me.

Now to be perfectly honest, I woke up at 7 a.m. this morning, and I’m starting to feel groggy. Like I could lay down on my couch right now and pass out. But I’m not going to let myself because I need to train myself to get back into work mode. I know that I fell into a hibernation at the beginning of December, and it’s finally time to snap out of it.

Do any of you have any “not resolutions” that you would like to tackle and/or recommit yourself to? How do you plan to successfully achieve your goals and incorporate them into your day-to-day habits for the long-term?