For a healthy lifestyle, planning makes perfect

I’d like to say that the past week has been filled with healthy decisions and wise food choices.  I’d like to say that I exercised three times for at least a half hour.  I’d also like to say I dropped a pound or two.  However, in reality, I just kind of coasted.  Coasted into pizza, sticky buns and cheese fries. And chicken wings. And beer. And…you get the picture.

Woah. What happened? What made me totally derail from everything I was working toward? Well, as with many of life’s problems, it all comes down to a lack of preparation.  In this case, I hadn’t gone grocery shopping for a full week, which led to a multitude of poor decisions when I was faced with the temptations of eating out. My moderate attitude and careful tracking slid right back into bad habits once I opened the fridge, saw nothing there and turned to the takeout menu instead.

While my actions were a bit extreme, I’m sure many of you can relate in one way or another. And as I mentioned before, it all comes down to a lack of preparation. How can you expect to pass an exam with flying colors if you haven’t read the books or studied at all?

My “test” was making wise food choices when faced with hunger.  I hadn’t prepared by stocking up with a range of healthy foods. I also hadn’t prepared by eating small, yet filling foods often throughout the day.  And for the icing on the sugar-laden cake, I made sure to stay busy and stressed so by the time I realized I was hungry, it was already too late – I was ravenous. As you’d expect, I crashed and burned, getting the equivalent of a big fat “F” every time extreme hunger overtook sensible food choices.

So what’s the moral of my story? Well, for my situation, the moral is that I need to go grocery shopping every week in order to succeed on this journey. And if I slip up, so be it – I can’t lament over past poor choices that can’t be undone.  After all, one failed exam doesn’t mean you won’t graduate altogether.  I just need to pick myself up, dust myself off and start studying.

Photo Credit:  Cover Image – Junior Gomes;  Planner – Charles Thompson