I've been taking stock of my yo-yo diet ways. I've often thought an appropriate metaphor is struggling to escape from quicksand; the more you try to get free the further you sink. Lately stretches of stalwart willpower followed by stretches of shameful debauchery have led to my weight spiraling out of control. In fact, that has probably been the pattern since I was 18 (almost half of my life).
The Power of Habit, by Charles Dunhigg, has been an inspiration to me. I truly believe that the way to break out of this feast or famine cycle is to develop good habits through repetition until they are second nature. There is always the possibility of relapse into old bad habits that never go away, but the more entrenched these good habits are the easier it is to get back on track. I need to limit the debauchery, knowing that it is impossible to be perfect, but know that by sticking to my routine long term will guarantee success - eventually.
In 2011 I was spending a ton of money to go to Lifetime Fitness, and I first heard about a "Turkey Trot". Every year since I've wished I had actually gone through with registering for one. Now I have co-workers who are into running who have been talking about doing a 10k since last year. So now in addition to working on good habits by eating a nutritious breakfast and getting a regular sleep schedule I am starting to train for that run. As of today I'm doing a little more than 3 miles every other day to start training. It's mostly walking, but it's moving and it's a start. The 2014 Turkey Trot 10k is 126 days from today. My 'goal in progress' is to try to be able to run the whole thing, even if it is just a slow jog.
So that's it really. Nothing new and innovative, just eat healthy and train. Don't let occasional slip-ups lead to long stretches of slovenly behavior, and think of every positive day as a day I am entrenching those good habits. Optimism and patience.
Oh, and since I'm losing weight, why not get paid for it! I'm 1-2 in Diet Bets (won my first, then lost steam during a 1 month and a 6 month). I'll start by doing another one month, then maybe more if I think I can keep up with that pace. So much weight to lose, I should be able to do a few more of these!