I figured out early on that I needed some sort of structure to keep me on track with my nutrition and exercise program. One of the quotes I love from Bill Phillips is "Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail." I can attribute much of my success thus far to this mantra.
I try to plan my meals and workouts in advance. Usually on a Sunday I'll sit down and decide what I'm going to eat for the week. If I'm eating home-cooked meals I make my grocery list, shop for the ingredients, and cook up most or all of my meals for the week in one day.
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Pulled Duck Dinner Salad |
If I'm doing
Jenny Craig or a meal delivery service like
Freshology, I just customize my menu for the week. This leaves nothing to chance. That means if someone orders a pizza at the office or I'm out and about and there's no healthy options wherever I am, I won't be stuck or tempted because I don't have a plan. It takes the guesswork out of everything and ensures I'll stay on track.
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Finger-lickin' Fried Chicken |
A good example of this is I went to the annual Long Beach Jazz Festival here in Long Beach, CA last Friday with a girlfriend. I packed a small cooler with my dinner for the evening (a "Pulled Duck and Edamame Salad). I initially thought that I might be able to get some food from one of the many vendors at the festival but I didn't want to take the chance that they might not have something I could eat. I'm so glad I decided to bring my own food. Every single vendor we encountered was selling food like fried catfish, fried chicken, french fries and funnel cakes. I reminded myself that just 1 fried chicken breast can pack a whopping 490 calories, 31g of fat and 1080 mg of sodium! There were no healthy alternatives and I was glad I had the foresight to pack my own meal. I was so proud of myself that I honored my self-promise to eat clean. Now don't get me wrong! I love me some fried chicken and catfish on occasion in moderation, but I only try to do 1 "splurge" or "free" meal a week and I had already planned that for the following day.
With exercise I know what days I'm going to do cardio and what days I'm going to do weight training. For cardio I usually choose the classes I'm taking in advance and schedule it on my calendar like an appointment so I'm less likely to bail out. For weight training days I write down on a
progress report what specific exercises I
plan to do for each body part, how many sets, how many reps, as well as how much weight I'll lift. During my workout I jot down what my
actual sets, reps, and level of intensity are. This helps to keep me focused. When I go into the gym I know exactly what I'm going to do and I'm not wasting time training in a haphazard or random way. Every 2-4 weeks I increase my weight and switch up my exercises to keep my muscles from adapting or acclimating too much.
I've noticed in the past that during the weeks where I haven't planned appropriately, I almost always falter and don't see good results.
I don't know about you, but personally I like being in control and not leaving too much to chance.
Plan, Prepare, Execute, Succeed....
the formula really does work.
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