Making and breaking habits

It was a quiche kinda night over here.

quiche3

It took me about 18 years of life to learn that quiche starts with a “q.” 😉

The Pilot came home from work, and I wanted to make something quick and easy so we could hang out a little bit before being sucked into our respective laptops.

supplies

(Snacked on strawberries while I cooked)

I used this recipe, and baked it in the oven instead grilling,

mushrooms, shallots and asparagus for the veg.

veg5

Of course, Miss Bell wanted in on the action but she loves all things that are not for her 😉

quiche2

I enjoyed a couple of pieces with a BBQ sweet potato mash (with bell pepper, cumin, chili powder and a little bit of BBQ sauce) and greens with Goddess dressing.

Yesterday while I was at the gym –I did the Biscuits are burning workout again- I was thinking about how fitness has become a part of life (instead of something I have to motivate myself to do, like when I was first getting started) and got to thinking about habits: the fitness/food related ones and all of the others. As far as good habits go, I’m good about grabbing a handful of salad or some type of greens to go with meals, and I’m a flossing fanatic- I almost always have some with me. For bad habits, to name a couple: I’m terrible about remembering when to put new contact lenses in, unless they start to get uncomfortable or I rip/lose one. As I typed that, I realized that I’ve been wearing the same pair for, ugh, 6 weeks instead of the recommended 4 (mental note to put new ones in tomorrow). I also have a tendency to stack recycling in the garage until it makes it to the bin –Jenga master!

As they say, it takes 21 days to create a new habit. What are some of your good habits, and the ones you’re working on changing?

This morning, Livi and I are heading to Whole Foods to walk around a grab a green juice,

juice

and back home for her next meal and nap while we catch up on The Bachelor and The Voice. Hope you have a wonderful day <3

See ya later with a Family post!

xoxo

Gina

Zumba song of the day: It’s a GOOD one, but you can’t go wrong with Pitbull 😉

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78 Comments

  1. Felicia on February 28, 2012 at 11:05 am

    gina- do you think you could post your favorite zumba songs at some point? the ones you post never let me down, and i’m a hugee fan of the upbeat reggae songs while i workout 🙂 or any recommendations would be awesome!

    • Sonia the Mexigarian on February 28, 2012 at 12:17 pm

      i second this!! 😀 my ipod needs some major overhall and I want some zumba!

  2. Stephanie @ Legally Blinde on February 28, 2012 at 11:07 am

    I think I’m good at incorporating exercise/ activity into my schedule every day (which was definitely a habit I had to learn) and I’m good about planning healthy meals and packing healthy snacks to take with me on-the-go (another habit I had to learn). It’s funny you mentioned floss – I’m currently trying to get into the habit of flossing every day. I just find it so boring! Haha. I also need to do a better job of keeping up with my dishes (no dishwasher 🙁 ). Have fun at WF with Livi!

  3. Food for Todd on February 28, 2012 at 11:07 am

    Saying sorry when I don’t need to is a habit I’m so glad I’ve changed! Agreed about working out – it’s definitely become a good habit and something I enjoy!

    Have fun watching the Bachelor 😉

  4. Jennie on February 28, 2012 at 11:07 am

    Hey Gina — love this post. I’ve been thinking myself today about habits. I’ve started something called ‘The Jillian Project’ (note: this is not online, just something I’m tracking myself using Excel spreadsheets because I am a dork) where I do JM videos 6 days a week. I LOVE it so far — and since they’re mainly only 30 mins or so each of intense exercise, it’s so doable.

    But I was thinking today about habits, and when this will become a habit. Right now, I still have to motivate myself to do it and it’s not easy as pie. I hope it does take just 21 days – that would be ridiculously lovely.

    Maybe you could do a further post on your journey to making exercise a part of your life, and a habit, instead of something that you might have to force yourself to do. Would be really interesting!

    As always, great post 🙂

  5. Jacquelyn on February 28, 2012 at 11:09 am

    My current lazy habits I’m trying to get rid of are:
    being too lazy to make a salad because I really do love salad
    staying in bed too long in the morning where I feel like I’ve wasted my whole day
    fighting myself in going to the gym.
    My good habits that I never had to really work at are:
    cleaning. I love a clean house.
    keeping up on staying in touch with my favorite people in my life!

  6. Rebecca @ Runner with an Appetite on February 28, 2012 at 11:09 am

    Gave that Biscuits are Burning workout to a co-worker who said he needed a new elliptical workout (fracture in foot, so he’s stuck to that machine). He texted me that he hasn’t sweat that much in AGES and that he loved it. Can’t wait to try it myself!

  7. Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat on February 28, 2012 at 11:10 am

    SNAP on the recycle stacking! My roommates and I do that ALL the time.
    Good habits: like you, making fitness a part of my life, eating a clean diet, and getting up early to get my exercise in each day before anything else gets in the way.
    Bad habits: I hunch my shoulders when I’ve been sitting at a desk for a long time, and I’m one of those people that doesn’t always come to a complete stop at a stop sign like I should.. tisk tisk!

  8. Hillary on February 28, 2012 at 11:10 am

    First of all, I never even thought of cooking a quiche on the grill. Love it!

    I agree that, once fitness and food becomes a habit, it’s really not so hard to maintain. I refer to my daily gym session as being as much of a habit as brushing my teeth; I don’t even think twice about it!

    As far as bad habits go, I’m trying to cut my computer time in half every night. I usually unwind by zoning out on my computer/in front of the TV. I used to read for an hour every night before bed, and I felt much more relaxed when I was doing that! I’m slowly trying to build myself back up to that hour—hoping to be there in the next few weeks!

  9. Liz @ Southern Charm on February 28, 2012 at 11:11 am

    Good habits: washing my face in the mornings, changing contacts on time and flossing!

    Bad habits: missing workouts, not washing my face at night, and munching too much on the couch in front of the tv. This third habit, I REALLY need to work at!

  10. HRCK the Herald on February 28, 2012 at 11:16 am

    Heh, did you think it was “Kishe”?

    • Fitnessista on February 28, 2012 at 11:45 am

      Keesh. Haha

  11. Corrie Anne on February 28, 2012 at 11:18 am

    Some good habits are so hard. Not drinking enough water is usually my biggest fail!!

  12. Kristen on February 28, 2012 at 11:19 am

    My New Years Resolution was not to eat healthier or exercise more. It was to do my freakin dishes! I was the worst at letting dishes pile up…and we even have a dishwasher! I worked REALLY hard on this and I am happy to say that I now can’t stand dirty dishes in my sink.

  13. Sarah @ The Hassemer House on February 28, 2012 at 11:19 am

    My husband and I recently made the switch to a Mediterranean-type diet. We’ve cut out A LOT of our bad eating habits, i.e. processed foods, red meat, sweets (mostly), white bread, etc. Eating habits are so hard to break but after a month of making the change I feel 1,000,000 times healthier and more energetic!

  14. Shannon on February 28, 2012 at 11:22 am

    I totally do the same thing with my recycling!!

    Good habits – I love working out! It’s my “get to” every day. I’m dominating meal planning lately. It’s been awesome not having to think about dinner each night.

    Bad habits – I’ve been binge eating and eating mad amounts of sugar and carbs and I can’t seem to reign it in lately. Its like I can’t get enough to eat. I need to get a handle on it.

  15. Amy @ Nourishing Power on February 28, 2012 at 11:28 am

    My good habits are making it to bootcamp workouts 3x a week and making a healthy menu for the week.

    My bad habit- Not sticking to the menu! I’ve made that one of my weeks goals this week is to make everything I put on my menu!

  16. Jessica on February 28, 2012 at 11:30 am

    Is there a Pandora station you like for upbeat workout songs? I already use Todays Hits, Lady Gaga, and Britney Spears, but am always looking for good new ones. I LOVE this song you posted!
    I wish my nearest WF wasn’t over 3 hours away 🙁

  17. Kris | iheartwellness.com on February 28, 2012 at 11:35 am

    Love this post!! Haha, shows how real you are 😉

    My bad habits are picking split ends when bored {always!} watching endless amounts of YouTube Makeup Videos, and probably my Real Housewives 😉

    Good habits are at the gym all the time, healthy eating, greens in everything and taking my vitamins!

    Have a great day!!
    xxoo

  18. Nicole on February 28, 2012 at 11:37 am

    Where can I get the goddess dressing? You always talk about it. I want some! 🙂

    • Azka on February 28, 2012 at 1:35 pm

      Gina’s references made me want to look for it – I found it in the organic section at our grocery store Publix!

      • Nicole on February 29, 2012 at 1:41 pm

        Is it a certain brand?

        • Jessica on February 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm

          Annie’s

  19. Anna @ On Anna's Plate on February 28, 2012 at 11:40 am

    I’m good at incorporating fitness into my life– only because I go crazy without a workout every other day or so! It really starts to show in my stress level if I’m not at least taking a walk for stress relief!

  20. Lindsay on February 28, 2012 at 11:47 am

    Good habits: exercise (I haven’t missed a workout in 11 months!!), getting in h20 and veggies, taking care of my skin (i.e. washing face, scrubs, mask, etc), meditating, and for the most part sleep.. Bad habits: contacts (like you!), procrastinating with school (as in now), updating my blog, and occasionally eating way too much sugar at night or on the weekends. Goal for this week is to maintain healthy diet all the way through the weekend, and no late night snacking! PS I love your blog and read it each and everyday. You’re an inspiration!

  21. Valerie @ FreshMutz on February 28, 2012 at 11:47 am

    “I was thinking about how fitness has become a part of life (instead of something I have to motivate myself to do, like when I was first getting started)” This got me thinking to something someone told me a few years back when I made fitness part of my daily habit: Treat it like brushing your teeth, it’s just something that you have to do. Honestly though, I enjoy working-out much more than brushing my teeth.

    Good habits- Replaced junk food binges in favor of healthy snacking, work-out 4-5 times a week, maintaining a clean home (for the most part)
    Bad Habits- Procrastination (especially with laundry)

  22. Anna @ The Guiltless Life on February 28, 2012 at 11:53 am

    Awesome, love Pitbull too! We often do that song he did specifically for Zumba – Pause – in class. Love it!

    I also can be bad about my contacts – I have a reminder in my iPhone now. But I’m about to get laser eye surgery. Eeks! I’m super freaked. Also, I’m 26 and have worn contacts since I was 14. It’s weird to me to imagine a day when I don’t put them in and take ’em out.

  23. Racheal @ Running with Racheal on February 28, 2012 at 11:59 am

    Good – running most days of the week and eating fruits and veggies

    Bad – I am so with you on the contacts. Also, I require something sweet after dinner, or else I just keep on eating.

  24. Jaimie on February 28, 2012 at 12:02 pm

    I am so with you on the bad habit of not changing contacts when I should! Like you, I live in the southwest and my eyes get sooo dry- a few weeks ago I woke up to a burst blood vessel in my eye which the eye doctor said was probably from rubbing my eyes with my “disgusting” (his exact word during the eye exam) contacts. ouch. Lesson learned : )
    Other bad habit- snacking on junk while making dinner! I am about to eat, why do I need a pre-dinner snack?? Habit, I suppose.
    Good habits- always washing my face before bed and I do at least remove those disgusting contacts to sleep : )

  25. Caroline on February 28, 2012 at 12:10 pm

    My good habit is working out in the morning, but my bad habit is going to bed too late. Definitely need to work on sleep!

  26. Alyssa @ fit and fun in third on February 28, 2012 at 12:11 pm

    My mom always say to me “the things you do today are the habits you are making for tomorrow!” a good little reminder to make smart choices each day!

  27. Ali @ Around the VeggieTable on February 28, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    I’m really good at eating lots of veggies–I love them on their own and I’m also an expert at sneaking extras into every meal I eat. For Lent I gave up hitting the snooze button, so I’m hoping that will become a healthy habit too 🙂 Bad habits? I only do laundry every 3 weeks or so. And I’m usually ravenous when I get home and over-snack.

  28. Sonia the Mexigarian on February 28, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    Good habits: . . . . . eating veggies? lol. walking the dog.

    Bad habits: drinking a little too much. looking at workouts as a chore 🙁 I need to get into adjusting is as a part of my lifestyle. I love working out, it’s just i need to motivation to do it.

  29. Claire @ Live and Love to Eat on February 28, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    Working in a restaurant with Quiche on the menu, you get to hear some pretty creative mis-pronunciations too! 🙂

  30. Moira on February 28, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    Hi Gina,
    I was wondering if you could explain the benefits of using goat cheese instead of cow’s milk cheese. Is it better for you? I try not to eat much dairy because it make me feel phlemy and I wonder if goats milk might be a good alternate.
    Thanks!

  31. Heather @ Bake, Run, Live on February 28, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    I’m the same way with my contacts, so I write the dates on the box as to when I need to change to a new pair.

  32. Erin @ Girl Gone Veggie on February 28, 2012 at 12:49 pm

    My good habits: drink lots of water, floss, eat lots of veggies

    My bad habits: not always getting enough sleep, working out consistently, ordering well when I go out to eat

    Thanks for the zumba song! I love it!

  33. Aylin @ Glow Kitchen on February 28, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    Wow that quiche looks amazing! And why is it that pitbull’s songs are all good?

  34. Lena @Fit on the Rocks on February 28, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    The one habit I’m trying to break right now is hitting the snooze button! Sometimes I snooze, literally, 6 times. I might as well just set my alarm clock a little bit later to get quality extra sleep and avoid the button.

  35. Lisa @ Fresh Spinach on February 28, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    Does it really only take 21 days to make a habit/ break a bad habit? I’ve heard this before, but is it really true?

  36. kaila @ healthyhelper on February 28, 2012 at 1:13 pm

    Forgetting to put in my retainer is SUCH a bad habit of mine! I just always end up falling asleep before I think about it….DOH!

  37. Tori @ Get a Word in Veg Wise on February 28, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    Fun post! I love reading about habits, sometimes they inspire me to make them my own!

    Good habits: taking off all my makeup before bed, making a spinach/protein shake every am for breakfast, drinking LOTS of water at work, taking my dog out for consistent walks and to the dog park to make sure she gets enough exercise, and taking MYSELF to the gym for adequate exercise too 🙂

    Ones I’m working on: practicing more yoga (I love it and have no idea why I don’t fit it in more), getting a handle/schedule on cleaning my place, and keeping in touch with old friends more often

  38. Lauren @ Focused 2 Be Fit on February 28, 2012 at 1:29 pm

    Good habits would be ALWAYS packing a healthy lunch before bed, planning my workouts every week to hold myself accountable and recycling. Habits I’m working on fixing are picking my eyelashes (weird, I know) and late night snacking!

  39. Olivia on February 28, 2012 at 1:31 pm

    I’m trying to make a habit of being a tidier person. My room and bathroom are the messiest places ever, always. I want to fix this before moving in with my bf.

    Oh, and eat more fruits and veggies, duh!

  40. Caitlin @ Cake with Love on February 28, 2012 at 2:02 pm

    My good habit is that I drink warm water when I wake up every morning, a bad one is probably going late to bed and knowing that will be very hard to open the eyes in the morning to workout! And one more bad habit: checking my iPhone 1000X1000 times per day!

  41. Stephanie @ afitbliss.com on February 28, 2012 at 2:07 pm

    Can you do a post about meal planning? The benefits and how to buy enough/schedule meals without it getting super boring or predictable? My worst habit is that I eat based on what I am craving… as much as I like listening to my body and what I need, it usually leads to me snacking and not eating real meals. And this comes from me being a bad grocery shopper and buying tons of ingredients for one meal and it becoming super expensive to cook (which is weird lol). Thanks, I’m interested to know how you do this! 🙂

  42. Krista on February 28, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    I am trying to start waking up early for workouts. I am nursing an injury to my back, however, so I am waiting for that to clear up before getting back with it. I am also trying to really limit the number of fried foods to no more than 1x or 2x a month.

  43. Kerry @ Totes My Oats on February 28, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    Love that song… makes me wanna shake it! I must make some quiche soon.. its so yummy!

  44. Hallie on February 28, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    I used to be the same way with contacts…now I always change them on the 1st of the month. That somehow makes it easier to remember than the 12th or some random day.

    • Amanda on February 29, 2012 at 2:52 pm

      I do that, too and agree it makes it so much easier! That means tomorrow morning we’ll both put in fresh lenses. 🙂 Gina, you should join us.

      • Fitnessista on February 29, 2012 at 8:22 pm

        Haha I will!!

  45. Amanda on February 28, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    It took my aunt until well into her adult life to find out that quiche was not, in fact, pronounced “quicky.” Best. Ever.

  46. Nicole on February 28, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    One bad habit I recently acquired out of nowhere is picking and snacking while cooking! I love your idea of snacking on strawberries while preparing dinner. I’m going to have to set aside a fruit or vegetable to eat while I’m cooking so that I don’t start randomly eating snacks. Another of my bad habits is comparing myself to others. We’re all on our own path and I need to remember that!

    As far as good habits go: I always get up when the alarm rings and do a quick workout and prepare breakfast and lunch to bring to work as soon as I wake up. I also always make sure to finish all my work for the day (practicing for auditions, posting on my blog, cleaning the dishes in the sink) before taking up residence on my couch at night so that I don’t leave anything looming for the next day.

  47. Laura @ She Eats Well on February 28, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    Good habits: crazy flosser as well (floss in desk drawer, bed drawer, bathroom, purses…ha!), always always must wash face before bed.

    Bad habits: replacing my running shoes…I will wait months too long. Bad! Also, bad about taking vitamins regularly. I think the 21 day rule is especially valid for that, just got get into that habit of taking them daily!

  48. Christena on February 28, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    The quiche looks yummy. At 31, I still struggle with the pronunciation of that word! I read it as “queesh” (which sounds unfortunately similar to another word) and have to seriously think about it before I say it.

  49. Postdoc on February 28, 2012 at 2:59 pm

    I also change my contacts on the 1st of the month – very easy to remember, and you always know exactly when you changed them last! Fresh month, fresh start. 🙂

  50. Talia @ Bite Size Wellness on February 28, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    I’m good at marking my calendar as a reminder to pay bills, but I wish I was as great about marking my calendar for gym time. On those days when I am just not feeling it a scheduled gym appointment may do the trick!
    I love bfast for dinner…a favorite of mine.

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