Discipline

I have a good amount of vices in my life. I tend to overeat when feeling stressed. I tend to procrastinate because it's more satisfying gaining enjoyment now than later. I tend to avoid uncomfortable situations even though it may prove to add more long-term benefit by choosing confrontation instead.

One thing I am exceptionally good at is work ethic via inertia.

Some contextual definitions first...

Work - exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.
Ethic - a complex of moral precepts held or rules of conduct followed by an individual
Inertia - the property of matter by which it retains its state of rest or its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force.

Again, I am a procrastinator. I tend to put things off until some external force, well, forces my hand. Once I start something, I am brutally focused at seeing it through. I had been getting lazy with my diet and exercise plan ever since I went back to school. I gained weight. I got disgusted with myself. In turn, I started dieting and exercise.

Now, I'm not into any of the random diets (Atkin's, Vegetarianism, South Beach, High Protein). I keep things simple. I eat tasty, health food (this is difficult) portioned moderately. I exercise daily in order to raise my heartbeat and perspire. The end result of this is the most basic diet in the world which works for me. I haven't tried any of the idiomatic diets, but I wager my diet regimen is better. Why?

1. I have discipline to keep the diet. Once I start something, I am exceptionally good at maintaining. My focus and inertia keeps me on a steady path.
2. Eating healthy foods in overall small portions means my calorie intake is smaller than when I ate bad foods in large portions. The amount of calories I eat per day is less than the amount of calories I burn per day. Calorie watching makes me lose weight.
3. Exercising makes me burn additional calories per day making weight loss easier. It also helps me sleep more comfortably which is nice. Finally, it slowly increases my overall metabolism which means I can have bad eating days and still gain no weight. I break even.

I have restarted my regimen and am approaching close to 3 months on my diet. I get my new scale in the mail next week so I will be tracking metrics for motivation.

Speaking of motivation, I asked a co-worker, a fellow runner, how she continues to run when her mind is telling her to stop. She responded that she tells herself internally to push on for only 5 more minutes, or 5 more miles depending on the run.

It got me thinking about the discipline I have when I run. When my mind is telling me to stop, I usually don't go into bargaining (Just go 5 more miles). My mind usually goes into anger and belittlement (Run for another mile you puss). Whatever works I suppose.