Routine Holidays

Earlier this month, I mentioned in passing that I think diets and exercise routines work best when one is on a regular schedule, and the holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Year's is not, for most of us, very conducive to regularity. For us, we're traveling during both holidays, and with the break from school, we're also working to get things done--this year, it's moving: could there be anything more disruptive to routine?

But just because it's bad for a diet and exercise routine is no reason to think it's bad. Consider our move: we're getting out of our apartment and getting into a house, and we need to get that done by the end of the month. And taking a week or so to go visit family in Ohio in the middle will make for a hectic few days when we get back. But at the same time, we were both pretty physically beaten down after a few days of moving, so heading to Ohio was a good bit of R&R.

And while I basically decided to eat whatever was put in front of me, well, that was kind of nice too. I showed during the last year that I can lose weight, so I don't need to worry about putting on a few pounds around the holidays, as long as I'm able to really commit to my health regimen when the new year comes around. So yeah: that was nice too.

More to the point, the disruption to regularity was a wonderful chance for all of us to spend time with our family: our 2-year-old got time with her grandparents and her aunts and uncle, we got time with our parents, with Lauren's siblings and sibling-in-law. And that was great. Since we live 4-5 hours away, we don't get to see them very much in the normal routines of our lives, so the holidays are a great opportunity for us to make up for lost time.

Now as we get ready to head home, to finish up that last disruption (moving), and get back to our routines, we really appreciate the chance to break out of those routines for a while here at Christmas.