Summertime is the time when I want to start to slip into old habits. It’s depressingly hot, so sleeping until noon just feels better than being up, out, and hot. I’m a schoolteacher, so I have about two more weeks of vacation left, and I want to make the most of it, too. Yet what I end up doing when I lie in bed late is eating bad the rest of the day.
Sleeping until noon means not eating breakfast. No breakfast means that I’ve missed one meal, and if you’re keeping your Food Journal like you should be on Lean, Fit, and Healthy, you will know that not entering breakfast makes it look as if you have extra calories floating around. That does not fit in with an environment for real change, you know. Making changes to be healthier when you are otherwise not, or at least somewhat kind of doing so, requires preparation. Summer, to me, means not having to be prepared for anything, so again…an excuse to be sloppy! Then I look for excuses all day to eat sloppy. There are dirty dishes, so I don't want to cook, the dishes are clean, I don’t want to mess them up, the kitchen is too hot and therefore I want a "quick fix.” I also find that there are times when I just don't want to cook and reach for the quickest thing to eat.
I'm here to be the first person to say...this mentality does not work when you are trying to progress and move forward. The thing is, is that I know how to be a healthy person. I know what to do, what not to eat, and certainly looking at what I’m eating in my Food Journal online is just this ugly reminder! This is why I need Lean, Fit, and Healthy in my life.
Lean, Fit, and Healthy helps me to see the balance, and even when I’ve had an “off” day or “off” week (yes, two weeks ago, I went over 631 calories for the week!) I SEE what I need to do to regulate, monitor, and adjust.
Starting a diet program is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. I know that I start feeling sad and sorry for myself because I'm not eating comforting foods in excess these days. But by keeping this journal, I also know comfort foods ultimately make me sick. They decrease my energy rather than increase. That’s what I start to see using my Food Journal. Make notes when you cave and say, “I ate 4 slices of pepperoni pizza today, and felt like I’d swallowed a bowling ball for the next three hours.” I overate last night at dinner, and missed a movie with my husband because it made me feel so terrible. In hindsight, I would have much rather been out with him than back at home lying in bed with my laptop while he watched tv in the den!
My action plan is this... #1 Set the alarm. I don’t have to crawl out of bed at 5 a.m. like I will in two weeks, but get up in time to eat a healthy breakfast. #2 Plan out those small meals I need to be eating every three hours. #3 Go to the gym even though it’s oppressively hot. The gym has AC. Swim after doing cardio and I’ll be cool when I head to the parking lot (plus burning more calories)! #4 Encourage more friends to join Lean, Fit, and Healthy!
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