There’s Always Something
Holidays, birthday parties, lunch meetings, family dinners, and happy hours. We got goals, but there’s always something! So, how do you stay consistent with your diet and nutrition when there’s always something going on?
Going to gym can be a hard habit to start, but once you’ve been doing it for several weeks, it becomes fun and as many of you know, addictive. Many of you refuse to let daily burdens stand in the way of your gym time. However, when it comes to your diet, a birthday party can cancel out all that hard work put in throughout the week.
So often your results fall short of your expectations. The workouts were consistent and you put in maximum effort, but when it comes time to get on the In-body, you can’t help but wonder what happened? I’ll tell you what happened. What happened is you went to one birthday party and had a piece of cake. No big deal right? I mean it’s just one piece of cake. Wrong! Because then you went to a lunch meeting with a couple of colleagues at a Mexican food restaurant. What were you supposed to do? What choice did you have? You didn’t choose the restaurant, but you had to eat; and chips and salsa, sour cream, and cheese were your only options. Okay, Okay, so one birthday party and a couple of lunch meetings couldn’t have wrecked your results for a whole month’s worth of work… But then there was that happy hour, where you had “a couple” of drinks. Then, there was the dinner at the in-laws with that casserole made with cream of mushroom soup. Oh, and let’s not forget about that pumpkin spiced latte your co-worker brought you, that dessert you split with your spouse on your anniversary, that Halloween candy you ate, or pie you had on Thanksgiving, etc.
I think you get my point. There is always something and those somethings pile up! One party, one lunch, one happy hour, one banquet, become 4 or 5 occasions where you’re cheating on your diet. When there’s always something going on it may seem impossible to stay consistent, but it’s really not.
Here’s what you can do to manage those random occasions that aren’t so random or occasional:
- Make a decision – You have to decide how important your goals are to you. Is that piece of cake worth it? Is that drink worth it? If your answer “No but,” you’ve already lost.
- There can only be something, once per week - As a general rule of thumb, one cheat meal per week is reasonable. Don’t pick a specific day to be your cheat day. Pick your something. If you know you have a birthday party to go to Saturday night, then save that party for your cheat, but that’s it. You can’t choose after the fact.
- One or the other – Don’t drink and eat. Choose one or the other. If you’re going to drink, eat something healthy first. If you’re going to cheat on your eating, don’t drink.
- Decide before going out to eat – If you’re going out to eat, check out the menu online. Decide what you’re going to get before you get there. Don’t even pick the menu up when you get to the restaurant. That way, you won’t be tempted for less healthy options.
- Just say no – You control you! Nobody is going to force you to eat or drink. Be determined and have some stinking will power for crying out loud.
Yes, there’s always something… good if you have the right attitude and commitment. One of the most powerful tools available to you is accountability. Know thy self. Staying on track is not always the easiest thing to do. Seek help and find a coach to hold you accountable and help you game plan for whatever the next thing is.
