The Battle at Home

Staying the course is so much easier said than done.

You make plans, maybe even a list of the things you need to do to get your health/physique/weight in line to something closer to where you want it. In the grand scheme of things, you'd think it would be like a grocery list. Go down the aisle, get your food, cross a line off the item on your list and move on. Theoretically, your health and fitness work in a similar manner.

Until life happens.

Let's assume the list looks something like this:

Exercise 5 times a week
No junk food
Log food into journal
Track calories burned
No late-night snacking
Only 2 cups of coffee a day
Buy groceries on Sunday, prep food to start on Monday
Drink 3 liters of water a day.

Now that's not such an unrealistic list. It's measurable, short, and shows a series of baby steps.

All in all, I'd say if you could knock out that list consistently you'd be damn proud of your progress.

So Monday gets off to a great start. Food's in line, your exercise is either completed or scheduled for later in the day, you had your 2 cups of coffee and work's not going so bad.

Tuesday starts off much the same.

Then you get a message from your boss you're going to have to stay later than normal. So much for working out that night, have to shift 'til Wednesday. You barrel home between 7-8p and you haven't touched a morsel of food since noon. So, you let your ravenous urges take over and next thing you know you've consumed more than half your daily calories right before you retire for the evening. The optimist in the back of your head says "Just get back on the wagon tomorrow".

Wednesday comes and you oversleep. You rush to work, no breakfast. Head hurts and you order a double-mocha-frappa bomb at the local coffee shop. Your spouse calls and says, "I know you're stressed, let's just take the kids out for pizza tonight after their sports practice."

Sound vaguely familiar?

If not, maybe you don't have a spouse or kids. Your scenario may turn into friends, significant other, etc telling you it's the middle of the week and you need to head out for dinner and drinks to unwind a bit. And before you know it, the alcohol and food have turned into a 2000 calorie bender. But if you're not tracking your calories you wouldn't know how bad the numbers actually are.

Not to mention, the frustration when your friends/neighbor/significant other can eat anything that isn't nailed down and not gain a pound.

Not you, a fantasy about a brownie keeps the scale stuck in one place for 4 days.

Take a second.

Breathe.

There IS a way out.

The problem with the "list" is that although it seems easy, it can be terribly daunting in practice. Screw up one day and it's easy to blow a week.

But also remember, it's about the steps. Take one of those items and commit. Take a week with it, maybe two. Get comfortable. Then move on to the next item.

Don't treat it like a grocery list or a daily to-do. This is much bigger, far more important.

I try to tell people, take the easiest item first. Make it a habit. Then move on. You didn't habitually brush your teeth every day. You were instructed, supervised, and reminded it had to be done. One bad trip to the dentist reminded you of the importance. Now brushing your teeth is a 2-3x daily ordeal. Piece of cake. No pun intended.

The journey may begin with a step but the journey doesn't end just because you took the first step. Steps must be continued, made habitual, and become second nature.

The battle at home begins with choice. The good news is, nearly every possible decision that needs to be made about your health is YOUR CHOICE.

We can help you pick the wise ones.