Tips for Getting Back on Track

I find that the times it's toughest to stay on track with exercise and healthy eating is when I veer off for just a few days: be it due to stress from school, busy times & a strict deadline at work, or just temptation around me to give in (hello, holidays!). 

Now splurging on treats and having a few lazy days are OK… in moderation!

“Blah Blah Blah” moderation (you’re probably thinking, great, where is she going with this). When I first heard “moderation is key”, I was like, I don’t need moderation. Go big or go home! If I have too much to eat, I’ll just work out extra hard that day… or that it doesn’t really matter. But the second you think it’s fine to down an entire box of Wheat Thins or chow down on the full buffet-style pile of food that the restaurant tricks you into thinking is a portion… that’s when you lose. At some point during that time, you negated that you were no longer actually hungry, and not eating to nourish your body & mind, but just eating because the food was right there in front of you (not a good reason to eat it, FYI).

But moderation is possible. The food isn’t going to run off your plate and no one is going to come steal your treats – so no need to shove it in your mouth like it’s going out of style. Breathe. Be mindful. Take in the surroundings. Enjoy spending time with family and friends WHILE eating. There is no need to race each other to the finish only to realize you would have been perfectly happy and full a half a plate ago. When you’re not finished chewing your last bite and you’ve already prepped your fork with the next giant MOUND of food and putting that in your mouth, you’ve got a problem. At first, it takes a conscious effort to be like “ok, I’ve finished chewing and swallowing my food… let me drink a sip of water… oh let me tell Aunt May this story” and then all of the sudden, you’re not just eating to “finish what’s on the plate”, but eating to satiate yourself – to give yourself fuel for the day. Once you get to this point and realize that you don’t have to eat everything you’re served, and that it’s ok to have just a few bites of a dessert before you realize you’re full, THAT’S moderation!

But what do you do when you hit that point where you really veer off track? A couple suggestions:Re-prioritize your goals: What is it that you’re working for? Are you trying to get to that next promotion? Maybe with the added stress of working more hours to impress your boss, you need to incorporate more stress-release activities*, like yoga or boxing, so that you don’t take out your stress on the half-empty pint of Ben & Jerry’s in the freezer. Or are you trying to train for your next race (5k, 10k, half, full)? Find a running buddy or a local group that you can train with. Set small goals along the way til you reach the date of the race.

1. Start small (do a 10 minute workout, get the blood flowing); you don’t need to go into it like “crap, I just ate 2000 calories in that monstrous meal and now I need to be at the gym for 3+ hours” – that is just going to get your annoyed and possibly injured. Set small goals for yourself.
2. Find friends to help you / challenge you: Get a fitness tracker like FitBit** or JawBone and track your steps and workouts. You can even use an app called Pact to hold yourself accountable to working out or eating healthy (and get paid for it!). Make social meet-ups related to exercise: having running dates or weekly yoga sessions.
3. Get more sleep! Allowing your body to rest and recover will put you in the best possible position for the next day.
4. Eat when you’re hungry (are you hungry enough for an apple? Have an apple… if the answer is no? don’t eat)
5. DO NOT SKIP MEALS. You might try to justify skipping meals by saying “well I’m eating less calories so I’ll lose the weight”. Wrong. First, your body needs constant fuel to survive. By depriving it, your body will drop in blood sugar REALLY low, and then you’ll get angry, cranky, tired, and hungry, and you will crave that shitty food you’ve been trying to avoid. Either you’ll give in (and feel horrible) also leading to a BIG increase in blood sugar, which will confuse your body
6. Set time limits for tasks.
7. Put your workouts in your calendar

*When you’re stressed, it’s actually proven to de-stress you if you make time for exercise! While you might think you don’t have the time to exercise, and if you actually spend the time doing work then you won’t be as stressed if you take off to exercise, not true! Read this: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/stress-management/in-depth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469

**I personally have the FitBit Zip! If you have a FitBit, find me and challenge me to daily steps - I aim for +10k

Workout for those with little time:

3x

Each of the following exercises, 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off

Squats

Plank

Lunges

Push ups

Mountain Climbers

Sit ups

Dips

Wall Sits

Burpees