Avoiding the train wreck.

by

Avoiding the Train Wreck

I have well engrained habits of no-breakfast-no-movement-no-water days fueled by caffeinated-whacked-out-blood-sugar-and-adrenaline. And I can tell you that I was a wreck – a train wreck actually. But, I’m happy to report that eating this elephant, one tiny bite at a time, has resulted overall in a MONUMENTAL shift in my lifestyle.

Little by little.

A shift here and there counts. Big time.

Consistency is queen.

I am both proud and grateful for being able to transform my life (that is, making a dent in my proverbial elephant).

But I am easily side tracked. Life gets busy. The phones ring. The meetings are relentless. The todo list is never ending. Life’s commitments continue to rear their ugly head trying to interfere with my healthy choices.

I’ve learned several interesting things about myself through this process.

When I don’t drink water, I crave crappy food and soda.

When I’m overly hungry, I crave more crappy food.

When I don’t move, I don’t crave water.

But, when I treat myself well, I crave more of the good stuff.

I’ve also learned that I can change my direction at any time during the day. BUT, for me, it is much harder to redirect the locomotive than it is to keep the train on the desired track.

So why not start the day with a few purposeful, mindful actions to firmly set the day’s course?

  1. Eat breakfast. I’m a yogurt, berries, nuts, and flax seed girl. I’ve been VERY good about this for about two years, so it really doesn’t require much effort. But since it is the gateway for day’s healthy fuel choices, it must be on the list.
  2. Pack a lunch. I’m basically very busy lazy. And I’m not a sandwich girl. I either throw dinner’s leftovers into a pyrex, or I throw together spinach, pre-grated carrots, tomatoes, beans, and cucumber said pyrex dish. It sounds silly, but if I don’t pack a lunch, I forget to eat, and by 2 or 3 I’m starved and doomed. (Can you tell I love my pyrex bowls with lids? They’re in the top 5 for my key health tools.)
  3. Drink a bottle of water. Yep, water is my nemesis. I’ve tried all sorts of water drinking trickery: lemon, cucumber, cranberry juice ice cubes. But this strategy of finishing a full bottle of water before I go to work has been perfect for me! After all, I’m a third of the way done before my crazy day even begins. Brilliant!
  4. Plan for the day’s 20 minutes of movement. Will I be walking to work? Will I be sneaking in some intermittent bodyweight exercises at the office? If I’m going to the gym, when and what will I do? This sounds simple enough, but without a plan, I’m unlikely to find my resolve at 6pm.
  5. Breathe. This may sound silly, but I think I hold my breath. A lot. So I’ve been trying to be more mindful of full and complete inhales and exhales. Sometimes I breathe in the shower. Other times I breathe when doing the dishes or tidying up the house. Sometimes I turn on a song and breathe through the melody. Sometimes I do a couple of sun salutations. It doesn’t matter what the tool or prompt is, just that I engage in some action to create some awareness of the power and importance of breath.

So there you have it – my little twist as I trip down this health and wellness path.

Inspired by the words of Miz, “Set yourself up to succeed.”

And I might add, “Set yourself up to succeed… first thing in the day, before the train takes the wrong track!”

 

Kris is a wannabe fitness/culinary guru who can neither cook nor jog. You can find her sweet and snarky commentary at Kris M Beal | The Heart and Humor of Being Human where she learns to mince basil and do kettlebell swings while tweeting, all while trying to find some balance in this distracting world. You can also find her on twitter @krazy_kris.

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Comments

  1. Okay – I shall stop lurking!

    I agree the plan is crucial to keeping on track. I am all about the morning. I have to down 2 glasses of water first thing, or I know the rest of the day will be coffee and virtually no pure unadulterated water.

    Breakfast is critical. It has to be something that won’t mess up my sugar levels, and will keep me happy till mid-day. I think I have turned into an “old” person as I have ended up with real set meal times.

    It might be old-fashioned but knowing I will eat at 7.30am, 1 and 8pm means I don’t feel the need to snack like I used too when things were a bit more hit and miss. Of course life still gets in the way, but if I believe I’ll be eating at 8pm I don’t have to start snacking at 6.30 even if I don’t actually finish creating supper till 9.30!

    But I allow myself a weakly train-wreck so I always know that one day a week none of it matters at all!

    Cor I waffled – sorry!

  3. Great insights. I would add that when I don’t get enough sleep I crave crappy food … My train is inching off track and I need to get it back on the rails!

  4. UM! So with you on these two:
    “When I’m overly hungry, I crave more crappy food.

    When I don’t move, I don’t crave water.”

    Do you believe in giving yourself a day off every now and again on purpose? I’m sure you’ve addressed this before. Josh is a BIG believer in this- kind of challenging your metabolism. Thoughts?

    • A day off? Sure – but maybe not a crash day… my crash days build on themselves… for me, I’m always playing with it, “well, maybe just a bit more bread/soda/notsogood food…” For me it snowballs… so little by little day by day is my little trickery 🙂

  5. I just finished commenting over at your place & you are here! 🙂 I agree – get started on the right track first ting & it makes it better to feel like staying there cause you are already doing good things for yourself & yes, set yourself up to succeed!

  6. Great post! I find that if I start the day with a big glass of water, I get energized and keep drinking it all day. I also have a love for Perrier (sparkling water) since giving up diet soda years ago.

  7. Yes, a plan is sooo important! I, too, let things go totally wrong a few years ago. And things are getting really hectic again, and I feel things slipping… It’s time to make a plan and stick to it!!!

    • Hectic is my nemesis… not sure why I’m obligated to other’s appointments and stuff and feel less committed/obligated to my own health…
      dang – that’s why I blog.
      it’s like therapy 🙂

  10. Love K. Kris. These are great tips, for sure. I personally could never make it w/o breakfast–the best meal of the day! Always love the fact that it sets us up for a good day.

  12. I love these few basic tips. I think sometimes we get so caught up in everything we have to do that we forget those few simple, important things. I’ve always been surprised at how many people don’t eat breakfast–it’s my favorite meal of the day!

  13. I actually here the choo-choo of the dehydration train right now. Time to gulp some water and stop that train right now. Thanks for the reminder, Kris! 😉

  14. LOVE LOVE LOVE this post! I’m exactly the same way! This week has been half marathon recovery week… I’ve tuned into a sloth and feel pretty crappy – I can’t wait to run again, but want to do it in a manner that won’t leave me injured.

  16. Great post. And rules to live by!!! (and I too love my little pyrex bowls with lids. It’s actually bordering on obsession. My husband thinks its funny (and a bit endearing) that I love things like that….) Have a great Thursday.

  19. Great post Kris! I agree with everything. Making better choices like breathing, eating breakfast and drinking water make a HUGE difference for me.

  21. breathing!! most definitely! and everything else too. it is fascinating how we crave the bad when we do not do the good! even when we know it makes us feel better to do the good! 😀

  23. Making $ off of the totally clueless and stating the obvious seems to be the theme of the last ten years of TV, blogging and twitter…(sigh)

    • It’s funny, cuz I’m actually a grown up in many hours of my life – not clueless – but oh how my healthy habits have disappeared…. yes, obvious in many ways – but interesting how it eludes many of us, eh?

    • YES!
      consistency… day by day… little by little… it all adds up! that’s why I love my 20 minutes of ANYTHING – it is a doable little exercise in consistency… keep at it friend!

  25. Great tips. Its surprising how quickly a day can go downhill if a plan is not there.

    Once the plan starts to happen more regularly you miss it when you don’t do it which helps as well.

  26. You hit the nail on the head as always my krazy sister. I’m thinking there’s a lesson in here for me somewhere, probably about skipping cardio ;). I know I want the results I can get from doing more cardio, some mind trickery might be in order :).

    • TRICKERY!
      There’s nothing better 🙂 I have to admit I’ve enjoyed the classes the last two weeks! The gal pals have been hitting them all up, and, uh, they were FUN! And I sweated!
      TRICKERY!

  27. truly those are probably all of the best ideas ever!! I just read something this week that really clicked for me personally… instead of saying NO SUGAR which totally makes me want it, I now think to myself am I going to choose to eat this sugar and create inflammation that will make my run harder and prevent me from getting those six pack abs…yeah that mentally created a HUGE shift for me!

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