Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Daybreak Danger

I've developed yet another bad habit while on the path to my "maintain" phase. And when coupled with my too-frequent-and-too-much after dinner nibbling, it's a potential hazard.

For the past few weeks, I've allowed myself to lay in bed a bit in the mornings ... catching 10, 20, 30 more minutes of sleep instead of dragging my ass up and out as soon as I'm conscious.

The danger isn't in the actual extra sleep. And it's not in the reduced amount of time I have to work out. The danger is in the thoughts that creep into my head in the pre-dawn darkness.

"I'm REALLY tired this morning. Maybe my body is telling me that I'm overdoing it. Maybe missing just today wouldn't be so bad. I have reached a certain level of fitness, so missing one day isn't going to kill me. Maybe I'll get up, but I'll just walk instead of running. Maybe I'll just lift weights. Maybe I'll just do three miles instead of four ..."

You get the idea.

Remember, your brain is the strongest muscle in your body and it can talk you into or out of things that are not good for you. It will tell you you're too exhausted to run five more minutes. It will tell you that you can't stop eating Cheetos after 9 p.m. It will tell you you deserve a day off or half of a cheesecake.

You know what's right and healthy and good. Tell your brain to shut up.

And tell your convictions to step up.

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