During my 21 Day Fix Challenge, I spent quiet a bit of time in a couple Facebook groups chatting and bouncing ideas off of others going through the same thing I am. A big change in daily habits aren’t going to chance perfectly over night. It’s not natural. You are bound to go off track once in a while. A party comes up and you have some cake. Sometimes you stress out and eat that late night bowl of ice cream. Sometimes these are planned “cheats” and sometimes they are not.
I have seen two main reactions of others when this happens.
- The person feels horrible and completely beats themselves up about it, feeling like they failed.
- The person shrugs it off and realizes tomorrow is another day.
While this is my first fitness challenge, I have tried exercising and eating better a couple times in the past. Every time I’ve gotten derailed by a vacation, holiday, or even just dealing with sick kids for a week. I would say, “Well, I ruined it now,” feel like a failure, and go back to my old happens.
I have chose to no longer do that. So what if caved after a stressful day and ate a double cheeseburger. Who cares if I hosted a picnic and ate a brownie or two? Who cares if I had a horrible cold and couldn’t get out of bed for 3 or 4 days? I don’t anymore. I’m going to go with reaction number 2. Shake it off! (cue Taylor Swift) I could go off plan for a week and I’m still going to bring it back any way that I can. Even if I just take a walk or run on the treadmill for half a mile. Even if I just have a Shakeology every day. That’s ok because at least I’m doing something for my health.
As Autumn always says, “Get out of your own head.” If you think about it too much, you can psyche yourself out and that leads to failure. It can take weeks to develop new habits and even longer to make them permanent. Here are a few ways I’m going to help myself.
- Think about your motivations. Why are you doing this? What drives you?
- Plan some cheats during the weekend. I don’t believe in “cheat days.” I think “cheat meals” are better.
- Reward myself with non-food items when I meet certain goals.
- Do a 21 Day Fix for the next few months to help me stay on track with a week or two in between (still focusing on clean eating, fitness, and hydration).
Most of all I’m not going to beat myself up!
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