One Slip Up Does Not Ruin Your Plan...Unless You Let It
Your day was going good, eating was on point and you even got in your workout. You feel triumphant about your day and then calamity strikes. Some surprise work event or emotional upheaval and you have eaten off plan and/or gone over your calories for the day. Now you feel guilty, shame and are kicking yourself. The whole day has been ruined. Right? Wrong!
One of the most important details to remember as you move forward in your journey is that it is a lifelong journey and no one...NO ONE is perfect. Making the decision to live a healthier lifestyle is not a short term jaunt or a diet. This is for life. This means for the rest of your life you plan to listen to your body, eat healthy and get exercise at least 90% of the time. That is a lot of time. One slip-up is not going to undo all the work unless you decide to turn the slip up into the majority. If out of the month I eat on plan for 25 days but there were 5 days that I did not I would still have a loss for the month. However if I have the slip up and then use that as an excuse to give up on my goals and eat off plan for the rest of the month then I would have a gain. This is how I control my slips. I have a calendar on my wall that I look at everyday. For everyday that I eat on plan, I color that day in pink (my favorite color). For any day that I go off plan, I circle that day in red. It is a nice visual that forces me to confront and acknowledge my bad eating habits. My ideal would be a perfect pink colored calendar at the end of the month but I am okay if I have at least 25 good days. The best parts about my calendar, to me at least, is that it fits in with my prep and planning. I look at the month and I can plan out days for birthday or family celebrations which allows me to plan and prep my meals accordingly. It also plants the thought in the back of my mind that I only have so many days that I can eat off plan and keep me from crossing my good days vs bad days ratio.
Now this may seem a convoluted for some but it works for me. You have to find what works for you. There will be a lot of trial and error. This plan came into play 18 months out of surgery. I prep my meals for the week and plan out each day. This makes it easier for me to stay on point daily. As long as I stick to my prepped food a majority of the time at the end of the month I will see positive results. I do weekly check-ins with my progress to keep the momentum going or to check myself if I have had a little to much leeway. I have learned that living healthy is achievable for me as long as I have a plan.
One of the most important details to remember as you move forward in your journey is that it is a lifelong journey and no one...NO ONE is perfect. Making the decision to live a healthier lifestyle is not a short term jaunt or a diet. This is for life. This means for the rest of your life you plan to listen to your body, eat healthy and get exercise at least 90% of the time. That is a lot of time. One slip-up is not going to undo all the work unless you decide to turn the slip up into the majority. If out of the month I eat on plan for 25 days but there were 5 days that I did not I would still have a loss for the month. However if I have the slip up and then use that as an excuse to give up on my goals and eat off plan for the rest of the month then I would have a gain. This is how I control my slips. I have a calendar on my wall that I look at everyday. For everyday that I eat on plan, I color that day in pink (my favorite color). For any day that I go off plan, I circle that day in red. It is a nice visual that forces me to confront and acknowledge my bad eating habits. My ideal would be a perfect pink colored calendar at the end of the month but I am okay if I have at least 25 good days. The best parts about my calendar, to me at least, is that it fits in with my prep and planning. I look at the month and I can plan out days for birthday or family celebrations which allows me to plan and prep my meals accordingly. It also plants the thought in the back of my mind that I only have so many days that I can eat off plan and keep me from crossing my good days vs bad days ratio.
Now this may seem a convoluted for some but it works for me. You have to find what works for you. There will be a lot of trial and error. This plan came into play 18 months out of surgery. I prep my meals for the week and plan out each day. This makes it easier for me to stay on point daily. As long as I stick to my prepped food a majority of the time at the end of the month I will see positive results. I do weekly check-ins with my progress to keep the momentum going or to check myself if I have had a little to much leeway. I have learned that living healthy is achievable for me as long as I have a plan.
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