Monday Motivation: Make It Easy to Do the Right Thing

Back to the work week grind! We had a pretty lazy weekend, and we were only half-pleased with the outcomes of the two NFL championship games yesterday. I had a great workout on the Peloton app: one barre class with Aly Love and a OMG-SO-HARD class with Alex Touissant. I think he might be my new favorite instructor.

A state park in Minnesota where we hiked during our minimoon. 
Remember greenery?!

Making It Easier to Reach Your Goals

I think one thing that's pretty uniform about really successful people's morning routines is that it seems they don't make a decision once during the whole thing. That's part of what makes it a routine: it's just the same each time. If they take a jog every morning, they don't have to decide to run--they just do it. If they journal every morning, they don't have to choose to get out their journal--they just do it.

This week, I am going to try to make it easier for myself to make good choices and stick to some goals by making the decisions ahead of time. What are some easy ways to decide ahead of time?

Meal Planning: This is a common way people eliminate decision fatigue and avoid making unhealthy decisions. This week, I prepped little bowls of cucumber, roasted cauliflower, tomatoes, lemon, feta, and hummus that I will add to a bowl of salad greens for lunches this week. Hopefully(!) I will save some mental energy by not needing to choose what to have for lunch in the middle of the day, and not avoid the decision by just grabbing chips.

Schedule Workouts: If other people have access to your calendar, and occasionally jump in with a meeting or phone call, and that sort of thing derails your day... you might consider blocking out time for yourself on your calendar. I had a former colleague who calendared her weekly church attendance, her monthly office tidy-up, her pick-up schedule for her child. Although, to me, it seemed briefly like oversharing, it completely eliminated conversations about what she was available for: everyone already knew. So when I would take workout classes at studios where I had to preregister, I would calendar each workout once I registered. It eliminated the decision making. Now, since I don't have a studio to go to, I have to kind of engineer the same sort of thing for on-demand workout classes with my Peloton app.

Choose Your Outfit Ahead of Time: I cannot stand when it's a Thursday morning, I have a workout scheduled for after work, and I realize all of my leggings are dirty already. So, another thing I can do to help myself is select my workout outfits for each day ahead of time. Or, not even for working out: selecting the general pieces for my daily outfits on a Sunday evening helps out too! It just streamlines my mornings and helps eliminate one decision.

Ok, your turn! Is there anything you like to plan ahead for? Or is there anything you do the same every day and now you don't have to decide?

Weight Loss Journey

I don't know how often I'll check in on this. But I do genuinely want to get back on track. So I'm adding a layer of accountability by sharing here: today, I am 5'10", I weigh 175.4 lbs, and my goal is ~140 lbs. I have read all of my Noom articles for the day this morning. I am already wearing my workout clothes. I'll do a short walk over lunchtime (and listen to an audiobook I'm loving!) and a cycle workout after work.

Today's Delights

• I love 100% of everything on Sezane right now. 
• I received an Amazon gift card in a work raffle over the Holidays, and I think I've decided to spend it on AirPods. 
• I'm very excited about tonight's dinner entree! If it turns out, I'll definitely tell you about it tomorrow!

Look for something to delight in, A