5 Things I Do Every Day

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

Animals love routine. They love going for their walks at a certain time, they love snuggle time, they love play time, and so on. They can really act out sometimes if you take them out of their routine.

Well, humans are animals, too.

Today I’m linking up with Cynthia from You Signed Up for What?, Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, and Mar from Mar on the Run to explore the topic A Day in the LIfe; instead of boring you with my day, I thought I’d share 5 things I do every day.

Start the day with stretching & lemon water
One of the very first things I do every morning is get a glass of water and squirt in a little lemon juice. It’s supposed to be good for your digestion. Whatever. For me it’s just habit.

And while I’m sipping that lemon water, the very next thing I do is stretch. Although sometimes I actually stretch in bed before getting up, much to my husband’s chagrin.

Chester & Lola in the Austin bluebonnets
Chester & Lola in the Austin bluebonnets

Walk the dogs
To be completely honest, dog walking is not a daily activity. But that’s because of the dogs, not me. They do not like getting wet, so if it’s raining, we don’t walk. Or if it’s too cold – like in the teens cold; they are good to go if it’s in the 20s (with coats on, of course). Or if the road hasn’t been cleared of snow & it’s still slushy.

Other than that, we walk every day. Even though Chester is in heart failure, he still enjoys his morning walks.

I often wish I could kill two birds with one stone and just run with them, but I can’t. They do make an awesome cool down after a run, though.

Move my body
Unless I am sick, there is some form of exercise every day. I seriously do not feel right if I don’t move.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not one of those people who cannot sit still — in fact, I am all too good at it. And I do take rest days. I like my rest days.

But I run 4 x week, typically. I try to swim 1 x week. I try to strength train 2-3 x week. Ideally I would do yoga every day, but I’m happy if it’s 4 x week. And, as mentioned above, there’s the perpetual dog walk.

Make breakfast, lunch, & dinner
It may just be reheating leftovers. Or throwing together a salad. Adding berries & protein powder to greek yogurt. But we typically eat out only once a week, and I rarely eat frozen dinners (although of course sometimes I do).

My before/after photos
My before/after photos

Time to share my before/after photo (if you’re a FB friend, you’ve seen this & I apologize). Because it’s an illustration of taking the time to make my own meals vs buying a lot of prepared foods at Whole Foods.They might be healthy, but the truth is there’s nothing like making your own food. I try to point out with Friday Food Porn that making your own food doesn’t always have to be time consuming.

I would go on to gain weight after that after photo was taken, training for my first half, but then lose more over the next few years. I’m actually a little bit thinner these days. Most of the time. Depends on the week & time of year (I tend to gain some weight during winter — those dang short days!

In my Weight Watchers meeting last week someone expressed shock that I was ever 40 lbs heavier. Hello, why do you think I still go to Weight Watchers meetings?

Plan out the next day’s meals
To be perfectly hones, this doesn’t always happen, but it does about 95% of the time. That doesn’t mean I always follow the plan — sometimes it’s more like a guideline. But it’s much easier to swap out snacks and meals when I already have a plan.

It’s a lot like a training plan. You have to listen to your body and modify your plan according to your body’s wants/needs. Having a plan, though, can really help with weight loss and maintenance. Cue the cliche:

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

What are some of the things you do every day?

38 thoughts on “5 Things I Do Every Day”

  1. I also drink lemon water, but just because I like it. Didn’t realise it helps digestion. I do worry about my teeth a little (although I make sure it’s literally just a squirt of lemon in a large glass of water). My daily things are mostly “kids” related right now. Nappy changing….?

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    1. I didn’t used to be that way. I was that way in that before/after photo – I was still moving but you can’t outexercise bad food – but as a kid I definitely didn’t exercise every day. Of course we did move more naturally back then – in my case, walking everywhere (not biking! I was never much into biking).

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    1. Thanks.Planning is crucial to my weight maintenance. But I often choose something different than I’ve planned because I just don’t want what I planned – & often stick to the plan too. We tend to be control freaks, though, & planning helps us feel in control. Eating on vacation is so hard!

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      1. Yeah, not wanting what you’ve planned is always a bad situation. It happens to me too. I try to find new recipes that excite me when I get bored of the same old thing.

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      2. No, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just sometimes I want something different.

        As you can see from my blog, I’m always changing things up when it comes to food! My Friday Food Porn will be up later today. Some good stuff today.

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  4. I love that you linked up with these ladies because 1) new blogs for me to check out and 2) I’m in DC so I’m especially excited to read that blog! I usually meal plan when I am on a consistent work schedule and then have a “guideline” when I have more time at home. Your before/after pictures are so inspiring. You look amazing! And like you, I gain a little bit of extra weight in the winter too. Here’s my logic: eating warms me up, and I’m always cold, so in the winter, I just have to keep eating 😉 Or maybe it’s the Christmas cookies. Hahaha

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  5. Lemon water is soooo good for you first thing in the morning. And I think that’s great that you plan the next day’s meals. I think it’s great to listen to your body’s cues. I don’t always want the same thing I prepared on Sunday for dinner on Wednesday.

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  10. I’m not very good with meal planning. I need to work on that. And it’s been so hot I’ve been slacking on walking the dogs. It is awesome you’ve lost the weight and kept it off. I’ve never been to Whole Foods but we have one opening very soon. I’d love for you to join our new Weekly Wrap linkup since we’ve lost Weekend Update!

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    1. I lived in Austin for 17 yrs – the home of Whole Foods (better known as Whole Paycheck) & therefore the flagship store. At the time I was still working (from home).

      When I moved to Albany there was no good grocery stores. About a year later they built a Fresh Market within walking distance of my home.

      Several years ago a Trader Joes opened.

      And a couple of years ago Whole Foods opened.

      Now I’m a happy camper.

      It never gets hot here for very long, & when it was hot, I just walked the dogs really early. But the last few days it’s been pleasantly cool in the mornings.

      Thanks for the invite!

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  12. That pic of Chester & Lola is so cute! I tried to run with one of mine years ago and he was quite a trip hazard.
    I have to move too. Even if I don’t actually workout, I’m on my feet all day at work so I’m never really sitting still.

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  13. That’s awesome that you manage all that moving and all that cooking! We eat out way too much but we’ve been getting better about it. I do weight watchers too and it’s really opened my eyes to how unhealthy restaurant food can be.

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  17. I used to do hot lemon water every morning, but that was quickly replaced with coffee. Haha! I meal prep something everyday. Like you I cook almost all of the food we eat. Its really makes a difference!

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  19. I agree with you, I like to move, I feel right if I am moving. It balances the 8 or 10 hours I sit at work each day. Sitting makes me crazy.
    You look amazing! I did weight watchers when I was younger and it really helped, sadly, I got so paranoid about the weight returning, I went down an obsessive path for several years before common sense prevailed.
    I am 5′ 2″ and I was about 150 lbs. back in 2010 , it happened so fast and I still working to get it off. I guess I am coming to grips with the fact it will never be as easy as to maintain now as it was in my 30’s and early 40’s.
    Your dogs are so cute, they make me melt 🙂

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  20. I did Weight Watchers several years ago and loved it. My habits have changed a bit some, and I have put on some of the weight, but I think it is also due to aging. I cook a lot and agree is helps so much with keeping the weight off. Congrats !

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