Relapse

After all of my zeal and motivation, my excitement and perseverance, it's happened to me too. I have relapse into laziness. Well maybe not exactly laziness, but definitely not a regular exercise schedule and definitely not eating well. When I realized what was going on, I decided to take a step back and look at what happened. After some examination, I figured out why things had changed and set up ways to stop it from happening again.

Time

This is an easy one, one that we all share. Where does all the time go? It is also the springboard for everything else. When I started working at my new job, everything had to be consolidated. I went from having five days to fill, to one day. That was difficult. I don't understand how all of you full-timers do it. I really don't, let me take this space to applaud you for your amazingness. ::applause:: But when it comes down to it everyone knows that we all make time for the things we find important. If you really want to watch TV, then you stay up late and watch it. If you have to read your favorite blog, then you sacrifice your lunch hour. Why not do this for things better than TV, but don't stop reading blogs :)

Buddies

Can't possibly get up to run in the morning, run in the evening with a friend. Exercise buddies are the best. If you pick the right one, they help keep you on track. If not, they can become your ice cream buddy instead. You want to pick someone who you can stand up to and who can stand up to you. When you don't want to go, they do and vis versa. They need to be able to push you without it feeling like criticism. That usually means someone pretty close to you, like a best friend, but not always. Here is more on exercise buddies, specifically in the area of running.

Combos

I have had the pleasure of being able to ride my bike to work. It has been a time effective way for me to exercise, get to work and have some time to myself. Try to think of ways that you can combine different activities in your schedule. Maybe you too can bike to work, it is really awesome. Maybe you can take the bus, which usually causes you to walk more than driving. If you have to drive to work, park as far away as possible and walk to your building. You know those people you see on lunch break, wearing business clothes and tennis shoes. Become one of them. If you have an hour break, it doesn't take an hour to eat. Or even a half hour. Join a co-worker or two and walk around your building or a few blocks during lunch. See if your boss will let you replace your desk with one of these:

If you can't get away with that, ask if you can switch out your desk chair for a stability ball. Here are some super easy "exercises"/stretches to do at your desk. You can even try walking to the grocery store or farmer's market when you are only picking a few things up. Take advantage of the great summer weather and get outdoors.

Plan

You can read all over the interwebs that meal plans are cost effective, help you lose weight and waste less food. I believe wholeheartedly that this is true, but that doesn't make it any easier to actually do. When I do have a chance to plan, one "meal" that I feel gets lost in planning is snacks. I don't think that snacks are horrible, and I think it is unreasonable for you to think that you will never snack again in your life. Situations happen, especially the mid-afternoon my-brain-is-melting-into-the-keyboard-ooo-cookies. I try my hardest to pack a snack. Usually this consists of some almonds and a mix of other nuts we have in the house. Sometimes it will be a piece of fruit or craisins. I have recently started doing a Primal thing and anticipating my craving for crunchy chip/cracker type things, I got roasted seaweed snacks. If you are a fan of seaweed or sushi, these are simply nori-like sheets that are salted and, in my opinion, super tasty.
Also, when you are planning, have back ups for your back-ups. Remember that time when your friend told you their hard drive crashed and they lost everything? And you responded with, well don't you have an external drive? Yeah, but I hadn't backed it up recently. I am not going to lie, I love schedules and plans. I find it really fun to figure out timing and writing up menus and making lists. But sometimes you forget your list, or the avocados are way too expensive. This is when you need a back up. Have some extra meal ideas that take less time in case you had to stay late at work and the chips and salsa dinner is calling you when you get home. When you do have time to make dinner, make extras. Then package them in lunch sized containers. I have leftovers for lunch everyday, it's so much more satisfying than say a sandwich.

I realized that I also have to be patient with myself...again. While getting back into habits and routines that you once had, times can be difficult. I know what I use to be able to do and in my mind I should still be able to do it. But you have to realize that you aren't going to be able to go from where you are now to where you were. It is going to take time...again. The positive side is that you know you can get there. You know you are strong enough, you're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you!

Anybody have any other advice to get things rolling again after a relapse?