Here’s how to jump back on, when you’ve fallen off the wagon
Hey guys, welcome back! Today I am sharing my top five tricks, tips, and hacks for getting yourself back on track with your health and fitness journey. Maybe you've lost motivation; took a break from working out; went on vacation; got sick like I did. Whatever the reason, these are my top five recommendations to get back on track with your health and fitness.
Earlier this year, I got so sick. I ended up with a cold, got Gregg sick, who then got me sick again… This cold, we just shared back & forth with each other, and then on top of it all I got laryngitis and couldn't talk for two weeks! So, needless to say, it was a heck of a couple of weeks!
Back at the beginning of January, I had just started a new 100 day workout program – aiming to do about 20 to 30 minutes in the mornings – but then I got sick! I don't feel bad about that by any means because trying to push your body, in that capacity, when it is not at 100% can actually cause problems. I have PCOS and some other autoimmune conditions and, because of how it has affected my body, if I were to work out, while sick, the risk that I could do permanent damage to my lungs and my heart is very real! I do not feel bad about protecting my lungs and my heart.
If I'm going on vacation, I enjoy myself and don’t feel bad for not working out on vacation. Whenever we go to Disney World I won't work out because I know I'm going to walk 10 miles in a day!
I took a Friday and Saturday, got everything all prepped and ready to rock on Sunday, getting set up for the week and back on track with my program! I want to share the process I use, with you, to help if you have ‘fallen off the wagon’ or need some motivation to get back on track!
Number One: Make a Plan
Consider these questions; What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to change? How are you going to do that? What are you going to do?
One of the easiest things with that is accountability and consistency. Now, I hate working out on weekends but, when I'm trying to get back into my routine, I will give up two or three Saturdays to do like an extra workout. It gets your brain thinking that it's just a normal, everyday thing. Your brain takes about a month to create any sort of a habit and doing things consistently in that capacity make it so.
The other thing that I recommend, especially with making a plan, is to get some accountability and support; a workout buddy that you go to the gym or take a walk with, someone you get on zoom with, etc. I'm super excited because for my upcoming Chasing Wellness Fit Gym Accountability Group, we are going over a four-week program that is just five days a week, 20 minutes a day! It kicks your butt, gets you into shape, and it's awesome.
You need to make these plans because, you know what they say: Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail. This is why we always start off making a plan!
Number Two: Prep
You want to get everything ready to make it excuse proof. I have meal prepped for the week with some hard-boiled eggs, a couple cubes of cheese per day, some apples, carrots, and walnuts. I'm more of a grazer, than a luncher, so whenever I am at work I will pick and eat little things like this throughout the day, while still keeping it very clean and healthy. With things like my carrot sticks and apples, I will actually pre-slice and pre-bag. That way, there's no excuse if I don't want to deal with pouring carrots from one bag into a ziploc; it's already done for me!
Another thing that I do is take my water bottle everywhere with me. I fill it up the night before so that, when I'm ready to go to work, I can grab it and go. I also lay out my gym clothes the night before so that when I get up in the morning I can grab my clothes put them on and go.
The other thing that I like to do, to plan ahead is, in addition to putting my workout clothes out, I’ll also get my morning products lined up on my sink. Then, when I'm done working out and I jump in the shower, everything's there. I get out my toothbrush, toner, face stuff, deodorant; it’s all lined up so that it’s guess proof. Prepping for yourself with these ‘grab-and-go’ or ‘get-up-and-go’ methods helps eliminate the excuse of saying “I don't have time to do it”.
Number Three: Plan to Be Successful
What I mean by ‘Plan to Be Successful’ is basically – what do I want my meal plan to be? I am eating cleaner for the month, cutting out Coca-Cola, have gotten rid of the apple fritters that were in my fridge (yes I ate most of them, yes I threw a couple away) and I'm not buying any more for a while. I am cleaning out a lot of those junk food, sauces, condiments, items full of preservatives, etc.
The other thing I'm going to do (next month) is a three week Spring Clean Detox of my digestive system and my diet. I'm going to cut everything out, start over, clean everything up, and rebalance all of the bacteria in my GI system so that everything is happy, healthy, and can move forward.
The next thing for planning for success is choosing a workout program. It’s so easy to sit there and scroll without knowing what you want do to. On our online program center – it's kind of like a Netflix for workouts – you've got live classes, running classes, spin classes, yoga, strength training, cardio, set classes, open classes…the whole nine yards! To stay on track, I am picking a set, four week program, that is five days a week, 20 minutes a day. I'm picking it and sticking to it. I print out the calendar that goes along with it, so I can track all of my days. I also have a workbook that I use in my fit gym that helps track your mood, water intake, and sets you up to be successful. You don't need to worry about some of those things, like tracking, because it's already there for you.
Also important when planning for success is to think about your routines. Do your routines need a revamp? What do you want to change? Do you want to change your morning routine? Do you want to change your night routine? In the Chasing Wellness Fit Gym, we are talking about keeping up that momentum and keeping those routines strong. Do your routines need to switched up, to be successful? I had been letting myself sleep in a little bit too long, while sick and healing. I need to start getting up 15-20 minutes earlier, to make sure that I have more than enough time to work out and shower.
Number Four: Sweat or Stretch Daily
It doesn't matter how; move your body in some way, shape, or form. Take a walk, do some yoga, go swimming, go to a gym, do an at-home workout; just make sure you sweat or stretch daily.
Even though the workout program I'm following is only five days a week, you better believe that, on Saturday and Sunday, I'm doing something. It’s starting to warm up here in Texas and I think I'm gonna put the heater on in my pool and go swimming.
Sweating, or stretching daily, gets your body moving. It gets your body used to being in motion and you don't feel as sluggish whenever you do want to jump back into a program.
Number Five: Be Patient With Yourself
Nobody is perfect. We're human; we're imperfect. Creating new habits and routines takes time and consistency, it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes up to a month for any routine or habit to be created within our brains. When it comes to something like working out or eating healthy you might be trying to change years of bad habits and that's going to take a lot longer. Be patient with yourself and don’t expect perfection all the time.
Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? You eat clean and healthy 80% of the time but 20% of the time, you can have the pizza, the ice cream, all of the snacks at Disney. Life is about balance and you should be able to enjoy life. It shouldn't feel like it's a chore or like it's work, to be healthier. If it does, something is going to snap, and then you're going to go backwards. Be patient with yourself; it takes time and practice.
I'm going to have to be a lot more patient with myself because I'm sure my energy level and strength have plummeted from being sick and taking about a month off. Am I going to instantly go back to my 20 lbs weights? No, I'm probably going to backslide to maybe my 7.5 lbs weights and build back up. It can be frustrating, because I was at a different point before, however it's worth it to me to do it right and not risk pushing myself to the point of giving up or injury.
The success will come; the progress will come; the goals will be met. You've just got to be patient with yourself. It might take over a year to get to that goal but a DECISION is made in an instant.
So what are you waiting for? What's keeping you 'off track' or from getting your progress and getting your goals?
Stop waiting for Monday Stop waiting for the summer Stop waiting for your next vacation Stop waiting for permission or someone to push you Stop waiting for the perfect moment Stop waiting To LIVE your LIFE to the FULLEST What if I could feel happy every week/month/year? What if I took a leap of faith? What if I bet on ME this time? What if I finally stopped waiting and just started?
Happiness occurs when you STOP waiting for something to happen .. when you stop constantly looking forward to the NEXT time and you START making the most of EXACTLY where you are right now ... even if it’s in the worst place you’ve ever been... because this could all lead to you saying No More
What are YOUR GOALS? What are YOU wanting to achieve? What are YOU wanting to do with your life?
Ready to get started? Ready to finally STOP STARTING OVER and find the success and resources to meet your goals? Click the button - fill out the form - and get in touch with me so we can chat about your goals and find you a plan that will WORK.
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