Matisyahu's Blog

I decided to have a quiet time at home on Boxing Day after the excesses of Christmas Day – lots of food and sweets however it did feel a bit overwhelming so I’ve spent today at home unwinding, went for a quiet walk around the block a few times to get some fresh air once the rain stopped. On Saturday I’ll have a look at some outside seating along with some pot plants to make the backyard more inviting particularly on my day off from work where I can spend the time outside using my laptop rather than stuck inside. While I’m at the store I’ll have a look to see if there are any options for some sort of shade even if it is a temporary form of shade that I’ll need to put away in the garden shed.

When it comes to the garden shed, the one I’ve got is a cheap one where as what I’d like to get is something that is a bit more robust and I’m also looking at maybe getting an e-bike with enough space that it can carry shopping (something like a cargo bike would be nice). Although they’re more expensive than a 50cc scooter there is the benefit of not having to pay for registration and from what I understand for insurance purposes it comes under ‘home and contents’ like an ordinary push bike rather than it having to have a separate insurance policy. The sort of shed I’ll get will be based on the dimensions of the bike that I’m looking at getting so that it can fit inside but from what I understand the battery is removable so it is possible to recharge the battery inside.

With the lead up to the new year the big focus by me has been on making small lifestyle changes that I can carry over to the new year – call it a running start rather than starting new resolutions from a standing start which doesn’t have the benefit of built up momentum. The thing I’ve been doing for the last week is asking myself “am I hungry or am I just bored” before going to have something to eat. It is easy to get stuck in a cycle of eating just to fill up time or associating an activity with eating eg I’m going to watch a movie so therefore I should have something to nibble on, rather than asking whether I’m doing it out of habit because that is what I’ve always done or is it because I’m genuinely hungry.

I think that good amount of my weight gain in the past it has been due to ‘unconscious eating’ where I’ll just go through the day on autopilot not really asking myself “but do I really need it because I am hungry or am I doing it because I’m bored and need to keep myself occupied by doing something?”. It isn’t about depriving oneself of enjoyment but rather asking whether this is something that I am consciously engaging in or am I just on autopilot and going through the motions. It is early days but I’m hoping that if I stick to it then eventually it’ll become an ingrained habit that becomes an default setting rather than having to consciously thinking about it.