Starting Point

My biggest goal this year is to lose weight by improving my living habits. Openness is going to play a big part in achieving this goal, so here goes.

Currently I weigh 155.7 lbs. In England it might be said that I weigh 11.12 stone. I like the sound of that a bit better, but probably because it's not a unit of measure I frequently use.

I've been rather slothful in the recent past. Partly it was a medication that I'm no longer on, but partly it was a habit that I've grown into. Being in graduate school has involved a lot of sitting. Sitting and reading. Sitting in class. Sitting and writing. Sitting in meetings. Then, when I come home, there was sitting and knitting. Sitting and knitting while watching TV. Sitting and watching TV while intending to be knitting. Sitting and spinning (yarn on a wheel, not an exercise machine). And, most depressing, sitting and playing on the internet while neither knitting nor spinning.

Since a radical change in occupation isn't going to happen (I've invested far too much into graduate school and love the field I'm in), class and work related sitting are unlikely to change much. Therefore, it comes down to all of that sitting at home that will need to change. I've done well so far since I returned home after my holiday a week ago. A huge part of that success has been a direct result of not having the TV on all the time when I'm home. I'm working on building the habit of only having the TV on when I'm ready to sit and knit in the evening, and even then I only watch my favorite shows and then the TV goes off. I've got 6 shows I watch, and only 4 are on now (Downton Abbey starts Sunday!!). On nights without a show, DVDs and Netflix are good for knitting but I don't turn anything on till 8. It's been fantastic to not feel completely controlled by a 19" skinny box all day and a plethora of crap on cable.

The only exception to this is when I use the TV for exercise. I have a DVD I like and several dancing games for my Wii that are great cardio workouts.

So, 4 days into the new year and already I'm teaching myself new and exciting habits. it's amazing how much I can get done in a day when I get out of bed at 7 and stay off my butt as much as possible. I'm sure there will be more sitting when classes and meetings resume next week, but I'll still have the pleasure of coming home and not sitting down. Except when I really, really want to knit something.