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| Breakfast Buffet = Major Tempation |
It is the end of January. How are you doing with your New Year's resolution to get fit and eat better? I'm sticking with it but there have been some sticky situations. Here are 5 pitfalls that I've run into while trying to get fit and eat better and what you can do to avoid them and stay on track. After all, according to a
Franklin Covey survey, 35% of respondents broke their New Year's resolutions by the end of January.
There's a personality quiz at the end to determine whether you're a Type A personality. Type A personalities tend to like specific plans like the one I'm doing at
bodybuilding.com. I reveal my score and want to know how yours compares.
1. Travel
Pitfall - Traveling is fraught with peril for those trying to make healthy choices. You're off schedule and eating out at restaurants. Without your own kitchen and gym you're likely to stray off course. For example, Jamie's plan requires me to eat every three hours. It's a diet heavy on protein and vegetables, is specific about what fruit to eat, and requires healthy starches. When we visited Prague recently I was faced with a breakfast buffet at the hotel and restaurant meals. Luckily we were there over exercise rest days so I didn't have to go use the hotel's gym after full days of being a tourist.
Solution - Plan ahead. If you know you're supposed to eat frequent small meals including lots of vegetables and protein make sure to bring along some protein bars and portable veggies like baby carrots. You can carry them in your bag while you're out and about. Choose to stay at a hotel that has a gym or bring portable equipment like resistance bands, a jump rope, or a yoga mat. Ask your hotel for good/safe running routes. Exercise in the morning before you get too tired with your day's activities.
Learn how to make healthy choices at the hotel breakfast buffet and restaurants. You might not be able to stay completely on track, but know what the good compromises are. In Prague I ate eggs, the darkest available toast, fruit, and a veggie salad for breakfast. I allowed myself only a sample of the wonderful pastries. Didn't want to miss out on the cultural experience! Prague has several wonderful vegetarian restaurants so I was able to get hearty salads including protein, veggies, and healthy starches. Just what my plan called for. If you're not a vegetarian you'll have an easier time finding healthy choices like lean meat and vegetable dishes. Know your plan and approximate it the best you can. Allow yourself a small portion of special items unique to the place you're visiting. You will help facilitate lifestyle change by allowing yourself indulgences from time to time.
2. Change in Schedule
Pitfall - No week is perfect. There will be days when you have to travel, or there's a holiday, or a child is home from school, or you have a meeting during the time you usually work out. Something comes up and you miss your workout. Maybe you miss breakfast and your eating schedule is thrown off.
Solution - Have a backup plan. Jamie Eason offers a couple of
home workouts you can do if you can't get to the gym. Or, if rest days are built into your plan, just push the schedule forward a day. If your eating schedule is thrown off throw some healthy snacks in your bag so you have good choices instead of making a desperate bad choice when you're out and about.
3. Social Gatherings
Pitfall - Social gatherings are usually great fun. There is often delicious food, fun activities, and good friends. Sometimes there aren't healthy food choices to make and you feel like you have to eat whatever is there to please the hostess or the other food contributors.
Solution - It's the P word again. Plan ahead. Know what you're going to eat before you get there. Make the decision to avoid temptation. If you're going to book club or Bunco or your crafting group and you're asked to bring something, take something you can eat. I usually like to take a large
salad that contains veggies, a protein, and a starch. It could be my whole meal if I need it to be. If a friend asks me what she should bring I'll have a suggestion in mind. For last book club I asked a friend to bring an egg dish. Decide that you'll have one treat and stick to a small portion. That treat might be a dessert, cheese dip, chips, whatever. I decided I didn't want to be that thin girl that didn't eat cake at parties (I used to be her and I knew people were calling me names behind my back) so at book club I had a small slice of cheesecake. Allowing occasional indulgences will help you enjoy life and maintain a healthy lifestyle rather than keeping you in a yo-yo diet cycle.
4. You Don't Have Anything to Eat
Pitfall - You didn't plan ahead. You are out and about and you can't find any healthy choices on the run. Or it is dinnertime and you have to feed your family and you don't know what to make. It's easy in these situations to grab something from the bakery (our bakeries here in Germany are amazing!) or throw together some nachos or a frozen pizza.
Solution - Know what you're going to eat before it is time to eat. Yes, I'm going to say it again. Have a plan. If you're going to be out all day, know what your meals and snacks are going to be. Decide on what's for dinner early in the day. Don't scramble. Know ahead of time.
5. You Fell Off the Wagon
Pitfall - You had good intentions but you didn't plan ahead and were stuck making a bad choice or you couldn't resist temptation. You got too busy and didn't make it to the gym.
Solution - Forgive yourself and jump right back on the wagon with the next meal or the next workout. Just because you deviated from your plan doesn't mean that the whole thing is out the window. Remember your goal. Do you want to look better in your clothes? Do you want to run a marathon? Do you want to see some defined muscles? Do you want to buy that prize you promised yourself for meeting your goal? Is it worth it to throw away your success because you went off course for a short time?
Of course not. Stick with your plan. Achieve your goals. This is easier said than done for me. My friends say I have a very Type A personality. One went as far as to say I'm the most Type A person she knows. I like to have a goal and a plan and I usually follow it to the letter. That is until one of the above pitfalls catches me and I deviate. Once I deviate that's it. I'm done. The plan is out the window. That's why it is very important for me to have a very specific goal with an end date like Jamie's 12 week plan, or a marathon. It forces me to get back on track even when I've fallen off.
Just for kicks I just took a short
personality test to see whether I'm a Type A personality. I scored 85 which means that I have most if not all of the Type A personality characteristics. Take the test. It will take you less than five minutes. I want to know what your score is. I want to know if I can tell my friend that there are real people out there that are more Type A than me. Meanwhile, I guess I better get working on my yoga practice so I can learn how to relax a little more.
