It helps to be compulsive

I get up at the same time each morning, usually a few minutes before my alarm sounds.  I drink coffee, read the paper, walk the dog, bathe, get ready for work.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I ride my bike to work.  Otherwise I drive.  At 10:00 AM I eat my Greek yogurt.  At noon I have lunch.  On Mondays and Fridays I have a small mocha in the afternoon.  On Wednesdays I go out to lunch.  I always go to Café Yum! and get a small original Yum! bowl and a bag of kettle chips.  I count out 13 chips and staple the bag shut.  I go to church every Sunday.  Saturday morning I clean and afternoons I fold laundry.  I visit my mom every other Sunday afternoon.  I grocery shop every other Thursday evening after work. 

I never have to talk myself into exercising.  It is just part of what I do.  I like my routine.  When I was single I typically ate the same foods day after day.  After a while I'd get tired of something and switch it up a bit.  Some of my favorites were green salad with rice vinegar dressing and five saltine crackers and this yummy red beans and rice chili that they don't make anymore. 

There are certain things I do on certain days of the year.  Holidays have their own traditions, of course.  I always take one of my week's vacation over my birthday and the other one between Christmas and New Years.

I think you get the idea.

I am pretty sure everyone has a routine of some sort or another, but I'm also pretty sure that what I do is a little more extreme than the norm.  I don't think I have OCD or anything like that. What I've come to realize, however, is that in the weight-loss, weight-maintenance game, it helps to be a little compulsive.  I read a lot of blogs where people talk about wanting to work out, wanting to get back to their routine and really struggling to do so.  That's never happened to me.  I don't do a real strenuous work out right now (although I have at various times in the past), but whatever I commit to do, I do.  I'm the best work out buddy in the world!  Actually maybe my dog is the best.  He's so competitive.

So I am calling today, "Embrace Your Compulsiveness" day.  It is a day to celebrate the routine, the mundane, the ritual.  Our ambassador is Dr. Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory.   

What about you?  Do you have some inner neurosis that helps you stay on track?  Let's hear about it!