Falling Off the Wagon

Hey John Gibson Here. I thought it would be a great idea to invite a female writer onto this blog. My wife Amy Gibson is a prime example of hard work and determination. She lost 62lbs in 6-7months and followed habits similar to the ones I talk about here on this blog. She’s had her ups and downs and wanted to share her perspective on weight loss and dealing with real life issues. Thanks in advance Amy for sharing your tips and experiences.

So as women (and Men if your reading this) we all know that life has ups and downs. That’s true when it comes to weight loss too. So what happens when life hits us over the side of the head with “real events’” knocking us from our Healthy eating, work out going schedule. Falling off the wagon isn’t all that painful. In fact it’s sometimes fun. Eating what we want, and not exercising is easy. It’s climbing back on the fitness band wagon and eating healthy again that’s the hard part. But it must be done.

It’s easy to beat your self up and feeling like a failure. In fact it can be really embarrassing if you’ve gained back some weight you so proudly flaunted having lost.  But ladies lets not blame or beat our selves into “activity again”. As human beings we naturally move in the right direction with positive reinforcement. So what helps us get back on the band wagon???? Here are some tips to help jump start that sprint towards fitness and nutrition success. Trust me NO one is perfect. I know from experience how hard it is to lose a lot of weight! I know how real life takes over, and you slump back into old habits.

This year we moved a number of times, and we were living in “not the best” of circumstances. Not having total control of what kinds of foods I could eat, or how often I could get to the gym threw me off my game. Old habits crept back into my daily routine (some by choice, others because of  a lack of financial funds).

So now that my confession is over. Let’s get to the good stuff. How does one vault back onto the lean, mean, healthy eating machine? The next series of blogs will give tips that have helped me slowly get on the wagon again.

Below is a small visual idea of what can trigger our Fall or JUMP from the Fitness wagon. What do you think?

What’s your trigger?? Is it the night time sweet tooth? Is it emotional eating???How about unplanned outings to a fast food joint??? What ever your trigger may be, you can begin  to eat healthy again. It takes planning and heart to regain your footing on the health and fitness journey you already know is good for you.

Planning

Planning is the key to fitness and nutrition success. You have heard the saying “If you don’t plan then you plan to fail”. It’s true! If you go each day “hoping” to eat healthy it just won’t happen. We all have good intentions, but life happens. The kids get sick, the baby sitter falls through, the bills pile up, jobs are lost, family members drop in for unexpected visits……facebook and other distractions slowly take over (if we let them). Now I am not saying any of these things are bad. Just saying you need to plan, so that you can keep healthy choices a top priority.

Plan Number One:

Plan a menu. My number one key to nutritional success is having a menu. I write out what I am going to eat for three days and then I repeat the same menu. For me eating something different three days in a row and then repeating it is easier for me to stay on track with out getting bored. I don’t have to make up a HUGE list of different recipes, but I have just enough to have diversity all while staying organized and in balance.

After I have a 3 day menu (remember you just repeat those 3 days over again……a total of 6 days….7th day is a free day……but we will discuss that later). Once my plan is written down it’s time to go shopping.

After you have all you need from the grocery store, it’s time for the preparation phase.

Being a Mom of two I don’t have a lot of time to prepare meals. So I find it convenient to do it all at one time, once a week (twice a week at the most). Every Sunday after church (and a great after church nap) I pull out all my veggies. I cut up everything I am going to use the following week and store them in Tupperware.  While cutting my veggies I have my meats cooking. Usually chicken in two casserole dish is baking in the oven, and lean ground turkey or beef is cooking on the stove. I use garlic, sage, paprika and other seasonings to give a yummy flavor that compliments almost anything.

Once my meat is done I store them in Tupperware and place it in the fridge. I am fully prepared now, and have no excuses for not eating healthy. It only took about a hour of prep time and it’s saved me a lot of energy and prevented me from making easy, unhealthy choices.

I have found this tip to be the MOST effective when it comes to staying on track. When I come home from the gym having worked out, with kids in tow, I don’t want to cut veggies up. I am tired and hungry. Having food ready then is a key to my success. Being tired at the end of a long day with the kiddos is usually when I make my nutrition mistakes. But when I am prepared, I am setting my self up for success. Really who wants to sit down and cook chicken, cut up veggies when your tired and stressed.

This tip truly works! Give it a shot and tell me what you think.

Good luck !! Your well on your way to discovering your healthy self again!

Amy Gibson