Ruts vs Routine

 I’ve written about ruts before because I have a tendency to fall into them. My need for order and routine often results in doing the same thing over and over again. And you know what they say about doing that and expecting different results…

As it turns out ruts become paths in your brain which just makes life easier. It takes less energy, and really no decision making to keep following the same path. Now most of the time I think about ruts having to do with the familiar path I take each day I babysit my grandson. 

However, I’ve been struggling once again with weight gain, and I’ve come to the realization that I am in a rut, and just like a rut in the road I’m pretty much stuck. Every morning I weigh myself to see if I’m good or bad. As I get ready for the day, I review in my head the possible approved meals for breakfast and lunch. And then come around 1:00 I’m completely off the rails eating whatever I can rustle up in the pantry or fridge. Of course, then I feel like the biggest loser, but not in the weight world. I give up, usually eat a pretty normal dinner, and have something later to tide me over until morning. All the while feeling pretty down on myself. 

And guess what? The whole thing starts over again the next morning when my feet hit the scale. Needless to say, at this point I’m feeling pretty bad. I’ve lost and regained weight so many times in my life it’s feeling pretty hopeless, and my motivation to do it again is less and less. 

As I was reading a blog post by Edie Wadsworth( Life{in}grace) entitled How to Get Out of Your Rut I learned several things. Dr. Edie has a way of putting things in perspective that can help you live the life you really want to live. She begins by reminding us that, “Ruts are really ruts in your thoughts.” She’s really big on connecting our thoughts to our feelings and actions. 

In other words if I can change my thoughts, I can change my actions. And remarkably I actually am in control of my thoughts and have the power to change them. We have to make a conscious choice to think the way we want to. 

Wadsworth lists four things to facilitate getting out of your rut:

Change your thoughts

Change your actions

Change your environment 

Change your state

 As I begin to change my thoughts I will begin to take new actions, and consider ways to change my environment. This should result in a change of state. Let’s get to investigating my thoughts.