Little Pep Talks

I woke up yesterday around noon after setting my alarm for 1pm.  I gave myself a little pep talk, got out of bed, dressed in my workout clothes, and walked on the treadmill at home for 30 minutes.  I need to have these kinds of pep talks with myself more often.  I also threw together some meals and snacks that we had at home to take to work.

It’s hard to drum up motivation to stay committed on a day-to-day basis.  I find there are times I am super focused and other times I waver.  We currently have a ton of snacks and treats in our dispatch center as a thank you from another dispatch center.  I hate having to look at it all because then I think I want to grab for something.  I am quickly reminded that I don’t need any of it nor do I really want any of it.  And, nothing comes free of calories so if I did make the choice to indulge, I’d have to count the points for it.  I’d rather stick to my pre-planned meals and snacks although they might seem less appealing.

I’ve realized over these last few weeks I’ve been working the swing shift (4pm-2am) that while I do enjoy being awake during daylight hours, I don’t feel like I have as much time before work as I do when I work graveyard (8pm-6am).  When I work graves I go home and go straight to bed until about 2pm-3pm.  When I work swings I get home at 2am and watch TV before going to bed and then wake around 12pm-1pm.  I just feel so rushed to get in activity and meal prep before work.  But again…I’ve been a bit lazy too!

It is hard sometimes to know that I am on night shift for the entire rest of this year.  So far it has been going okay.  I think I’ve come to realize that the silver lining is that for me it is easier to lose weight when I am on night shift.  I think mostly it has to do with being less social and having less happy hours with my friends.  I really do miss my time with friends and family when I am on night shift, but I am also reminded that even though I don’t work a traditional schedule that I can still be flexible.  I may not have a Saturday off to go party with my friends but I have a perfectly good Thursday off if they want to party with me.  This job is never easy but somehow I make it work.