No Rules For Success

I've been thinking a lot about the little rules I fool myself with and the fantasies I create to keep me from losing weight. Here's one of my favorites:

The work week is full of schedule changes and stress. There are late nights and working lunches. How could anyone start a diet on a week day? I will start on the weekend!

AND

The weekend has too much time to think. Too much time to talk oneself out of exercise and into a pizza. Not to mention the near constant access to a kitchen for two days - you can eat whenever you want! How could anyone start a diet on the weekend? I will start on a week day!

I do this all of the time. In fact, I told myself that this past weekend was going to be the starting point of good eating and active living. By the time Saturday evening rolled around (and I had shoveled pounds of picnic food into my mouth), I had reasoned that the weekend was a horrible time to start a diet and that I needed to start fresh on Monday. Well, here it is Monday and I didn't bring my lunch like I had planned, I didn't have a sensible dinner (stupid Bit O Honeys! They're like crack!!) and I have yet to do more activity than move from room to room at a snail's pace. My whole week is filled to overflowing with meetings and overtime. I feel myself trying to reason that the work week is a bad place to start and that I should really get going this weekend. And then the cycle has started all over again!

I know a lot of people do this sort of thing. My own mother will decide to quit smoking on the first of the month and then by the second, she has decided that mid-month makes more sense. I've heard countless friends say they are going to start exercising immediately only to change their minds and start after the holidays or after their relatives leave or after the lunar eclipse - whatever is conveniently inconvenient at the time.

I'm going to try to pay special attention to these rules that I've been creating. I know they make no sense - if you can't start a diet on a week day or a weekend, when are you supposed to start?! (and don't say on vacation because you CAN'T start a diet on vacation! :P)

It feels like there is a little alter ego inside my head who is looking for anything to say that will persuade me from doing what is right. I need to figure out how to silence this alter ego - shall we call her Black Bird? - or at least find a way to ignore her. Her reasons are ludicrous and yet so appealing.

I am going to eat well tomorrow and get at least a little exercise in!

Black Bird is telling me that I will be too rushed in the morning to make lunch and too tired after work to exercise...

...But I will be making my lunch before bed tonight so Black Bird can suck it!