On habits

Why is it that good habits are so hard to form, but the bad ones come back at the drop of a hat?

Seriously. I've read that it takes 28 days to form a habit. In theory, that means if you can get up and work out every morning for 28 days, it'll be that much easier to keep doing it for the rest of your life.

It never works out that way. Yet the bad habits I thought I banished are never very far from mind. I thought I'd kicked the soda habit — until the Boyfriend gave me my 100-ounce, insulated jug. Now I fill it with Diet Dr Pepper from the Maverik more often than I care to admit. Worse, I'm starting to crave the caffeine again.

I'm going to try making a deal with myself: I have to finish a full jug of water for every fill-up with soda. Since it usually takes me more than 24 hours to drink one of those things, that'll cut back on the pop consumption. Then, hopefully, it won't be long until I want them even less often.

Waiting for weigh-in

I'm back on my regular WW meeting schedule, with a meeting and weigh-in Monday at either 10:30 a.m. or noon.

I wouldn't exactly say I'm looking forward to it. I was several hours ago — before I realized that I ate a sodium-filled frozen dinner for lunch and another for dinner. That wasn't very smart. You'd think I'd know better after two years on WW.

But overall, it's been a good weekend. I've stayed within my Points (give or take a few of my Flex Points) and I've even been avoiding the pop most of the weekend. Ever since writing that blog post several days ago, the giant jug has been full of water and not diet soda. Woo-hoo! I did have some iced tea, and a couple of bottles of water flavored with Crystal Light ... but no more diet soda.

Of course, now that I think about it, I'm starting to crave a Diet Dr Pepper. Hmm ...

Hopefully, all the water I've been drinking will help me at weigh-in. Keep your fingers crossed!

H2O update

When my jug was almost empty this evening, I dumped the rest of my watered-down Diet Dr Pepper and filled it with ice and ... water. That's right. I resisted the diet soda urge. Hooray!

I spent the entire evening drinking on it, and still I only managed to down about one-third of the darn thing. I guess that's about 32 ounces, though, so that's not bad. And that's on top of the two large iced teas I consumed.

At least it wasn't soda. (OK, I did have some of that before I dumped it out — but not much. It was already pretty watered down.)

Can this mean I'm on my way back to the good habit of water-drinking? I sure hope so!

Friend or foe?

When I returned from my vacation in Salt Lake City last month, the Boyfriend gave me a present. You see it at left: a 100-oz. jug.

Discount the neon-orange color, and it could be a great gift. Really, it could ... but only if I manage to fill it with good ol' H2O.

Unfortunately, I've been filling it with diet soda instead.

I thought I had the diet soda habit kicked. For the longest time, I could go days without drinking one ... without even wanting one.

But while I was on vacation, it was all too easy to fall back into the diet soda habit. And the Boyfriend's gift, which I can refill at pretty much any gas station for under $2, hasn't helped. I've been back for two-plus weeks, and I'm still on a soda kick.

What I should start doing is putting $2 in my non-scale victory jar every day I avoid getting a refill. I might have to try that. Why, I could use that kind of cash to finance a new wardrobe when I get to goal!