Changing things up a bit....

 Well, fall routine is back. Get up early with the family, work, take dogs for walk, make dinner, watch some TV, take dogs for walk, night time bathroom routines, read book, bed....

At least that is my Mon to thursday routine. On the weekends, I change it up a bit. :) 

I thought I would change up my routine slightly as it's been pretty much the same for years and my eating pattern has been pretty much the same all summer. 

Get up 6:30, black coffee at 7, electrolytes at 11, protein smoothie at 1, lunch/snack at 2:30, dinner around 5. 

Although I'm not really a breakfast person, I think that is likely due to the fact that I've just been in such a regular pattern that I just haven't missed it.  So for the next few weeks I'm going to change only WHEN I eat. I'm going to eat pretty much the same foods, but just change when I eat them. 

On Mon to thursday I'm going to get up 6:30, black coffee at 7, protein smoothie at 9, electrolytes/snack at 11:30, lunch/dinner 2:45 - finishing up eating by 3.  

So essentially I'm changing my eating window from 11-6 to 9-3. I am eating the same pretty much the same amount of food, but I've been doing some research that changing the time you eat can trick your body in how it uses the fuel. I also start winding down my day at 8:30, so if I'm finishing up at 6pm, that's really not a lot of time between my last meal and when I go to bed.  It's really only a few hours different so might not make any difference at all, but worth the experiment. 

The caveat is that on Friday/sat/sun I'm going back to my old routine. I just enjoy going out for dinner on Fridays and cooking dinners on Sat too much. Sundays are family dinners so it's easier if I just eat with the family. 

It's only been a few days so I haven't noticed any really big changes. I do feel slightly more tired at the end of the work day (between 3-5) but then my bed time routine and falling asleep has been about the same. 

At the end of next week I'll check in with weigh in as well as how my blood glucose looks. I've been peeking at the scale and so far I'm happy.  But we will see how it goes over the weekend and into next week. 

At least it keeps things interesting for the next little bit! :) 

Adios Summer

Summer.... I love ya to pieces but it's time for you to move on. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE summer. I love long days,  the heat, picking up in the evening and going for a ride or a walk or out to socialize with friends.  Summer is one long party. 

As much as I love the 3 month long party,  I don't like the havoc that it puts on my body. I drink too much, eat too much, don't sleep as well and my skin takes a beating with the sun even though I do try to wear sunscreen all the time. 

I miss routine. I miss starting my evening routine a few hours after dinner and shhhh don't tell anyone, but I miss the early nights.  I don't mind when it gets dark out at 8 cause I'm one of those people that goes to bed at 8:30! It just makes more sense to me to go to bed when it's dark! 

I need badly to get back into a routine. Good sleeps, less food and drink and taking better care of my body. 

I gained 8 lbs this summer. On monday I was back up to 178.6.  I never got into the 160s like I had vowed to try and do each and every calendar flip.  I'm not even going to say it now cause I feel that making goals, just makes me feel like a failure when I don't achieve them.  So all I am going to say, is that I'm vowing to take better care of myself.  If the weight falls off (which I hope it does), great. As long as I'm eating better, sleeping better and moving more, that is all I need. 

So adios Summer.... it's been fun as always. See ya next year!