The Cycle Breaker (Prep Week)
March 27 to April 2, 2017
If there is one thing I excel at when it comes to my health and nutrition, it is planning. I make meal plans, I calendarize my workouts and chores with my everyday life to make it all fit together, I prepare shopping lists that are by the aisle and shopper friendly, I even plan snacks and drinks to make my macros easier to attain. It is a LOT of work. And yet, I cannot fathom how I can do all of that work and planning and still not follow through.
Up until now, all of that planning was the work. My entire Kick Ass phase was used up in the planning of how to succeed. I would list and document and plan until I was, quite simply, burnt out on the whole health thing before I even did anything healthy. I realize that my issue isn't planning an amazing week of meals or designing the most efficient workouts. No, my issue is that sitting here planning does nothing for me unless I ACT on those plans.
If I am on the path to my goals and looking down the trail ready to embark, but spend all of my time marking the map and checking my supplies, I will be here at the crossroads forever. Thus is the summary of my life for the last 13 years. I have been at base-camp planning my climb long enough to have made the summit 100 times over and moved on to the next adventure. It LOOKS good. Posting the plans on Instagram. Facebooking about my macro perfect week of meals all planned and pretty. But guess what? That's as far as it goes. I am still here. Wanting to be there.
Well, here I go! Time to dust off my hiking boots and get moving. The plan is - No planning past this week and only plan what is necessary.
Is it nice to know what to eat at all times of the day in order to hit my goals?
Oh yes!
Do I ever follow it, or do I decide that the thing I planned is the last thing in the world that I want?
Blech!
Is it vital to my success to have every minute decided?
NO! In fact, I am finding it to be detrimental.
This week, I will only plan dinners for the sake of grocery shopping ease. For the rest, I will have options that are ready to go and I will track what I eat in name only. I am looking to have two to three breakfast options that are easy and varied so I can just chose from A. B. or C each day instead of deciding that the breakfast I planned was 1.) Too Complicated 2.) Not easy enough to prepare 3.) Hot when I want cold. 4.) Vice Versa 5.) savory when I want light and sweet.. You get the point. I have a picky weird brain. SO, three options! Maybe I will have the same one every day, maybe I will mix it up, maybe I will have all three in a day - the goal is to stay with only those three options.
Snacks and lunch? Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
This I can do. This I like!
For dinners, I am going to go with some favorites from the family archives.
Monday: Chicken Caprese Pasta
Wednesday: PaleOMG Thai Pork and Veggie Meatballs
Thursday: Quick Chicken Tikka Masala
So I put all this in my Plan To Eat Meal planner, print out the shopping list and DONE! With a little prep, I will have everything ready and still have CHOICES!
When you are making a climb on Everest, or running a trail to a secluded waterfall, you have to track your progress. You need to know that the turns and choices you are making will ultimately lead you where you want to go. This is also helpful if you get lost or need to adjust your plan because a bridge is out or a tree fell over your path. Sometimes you need to look back and see what went right and what needs adjusting. I have been making myself crazy with tracking apps on my smart phone. If I were to follow all the tracking apps I need to make it happen, I would s[end way more time tracking than actually living! I got into Bullet Journaling last year and have decided to forgo the plethora of apps that are jamming up my phone in favor of tracking this trek down the trail the old fashioned way - Paper and Pen!
Word to the wise: Don't start a bullet journal and then try to continue to track on an app. I was making myself insane and taking the trail to Burn Out Town every time. This week I am going to let go of all the habit trackers and calendars and overdone Bullet Journal stuff too.
Two simple pages. Meal Log and Quests.
Page One: Meal Log
I will be just writing down what I eat for this week. No calories. No macros. No headache. This can feel a little scary because you are sure that you will just go SO over your targets. But I feel that using a dinner menu that I know and limiting my other options to three choices will make it really easy to stay on track. (For science sake, I plan to add up this week later on and see how I did.) If you are interested in Bullet Journal and want to learn more, Start HERE! When you are ready for the overload, you can also search Pinterest for some ideas. Be warned! It's a rabbit hole...
Page Two: Quests
I have, as I Mentioned before, been a member of the Nerd Fitness Academy (Hi Steve!) for years now. This amazing community is a place where you can learn to turn your life into a game and level up in all areas. I encourage you to check it out if you aren't already a subscriber. One part of this gamification (New word?) is to turn the tasks you do into quests that reward XP or Loot. I like Loot! You like Loot! We all want LOOT! So for the next seven days, I will have Dailies and single objective quests to accomplish. I am starting very small here and only asking this body to do the warm up and cool down of my workouts, walk daily, track my food, and lay off the liquid calories. I have 4 Loot Item Slots that I can write in what I am working for (ISO - Two ideas!) and will work toward getting all four!
So, here it is. The Master Non-Plan! Will I make it through? Will I divert my path? Will I emerge victorious with new gear and a higher constitution?
Check back next week to see how it went and for a look at the Non-Plan for the following week!
Thanks for hanging out with me in my little corner of the sky!