Facing Life's Issues

We all have stress. There isn't a single person reading this blog right now who can say their life is perfect. What is "bad times" for one person is a "walk in the park" for another, but we CANNOT judge others by this. We all have to remember that regardless of our circumstances the next person is likely to be just as stressed out, worried, and aggrivated by their circumstances as we are about what's going on in our life.

But, I often hear people who say, "X, Y, and Z always seems to happen to me and it's not fair. I don't know why I can't do this." Like I said, all of us struggle and face issues. I am going through some tough times myself. My family has a lot going on and it made me think about how I keep my fitness and health lifestyle up while roadblock after roadblock seems to appear. It has more to do with how I see life's problems. I don't let them get in my way. I feel that no matter what I will come up with a way to work around it, go over it, under it, or straight through it. How I do it:

1. Plan. On Sunday, I sketch out my entire week. The first thing I do is look at my daily schedule and fill-in the times that are completely unvailable. Next, I make my menu for the week based on eating at home, in the car, at a meeting, at pre-school, at the gym, etc. After the food is planned, I schedule the exercise. That means I get together when, where, with whom, and what I am doing. Now I have no excuses to not do it!!!

If roadblocks pop-up, what do I do? I get out the plan and start re-working. I keep extra snacks in the cooler for emergencies. Keep a change of clothes in the car for a quick walk, jog, or stop at the gym. I have videos and such at home in case I need to workout there versus the gym. It's all about making good choices, moving, and going forward. How you do it isn't always as important as just doing the basics.

2. Fix It. Seems obvious but I can't tell you how many girls I coach who deal with the same issues day in and day out and never fix them. I'm a believer that if something isn't working for you one of two things must change: the circumstance or you. Figure out which one needs to change and do it. 

3. Quit Being Fixated on "Why". Man, when I was overweight I can't tell you how many years I spent worrying about why I was fat versus how do I lose weight for good. I knew about dieting, etc., but I didn't really apply it because each time something happened I would chant my mantra, "I don't know why I can't lose weight and be good." So what? That never helped me one minute asking that question. The question should be, "I do X so what things need to change today to make sure that quits derailing me." And, then do it! The day I finally started looking at my life and really fixing things is the day I started making progress.

4. This is a hard, lifelong process. The final key ingredient. Losing weight isn't easy or we would all just do it. Don't tell anyone but the way you eat and exercise while losing weight is probably the way you are going to eat and lose weight while maintaining. Face it everyone: WE ARE ALL MEANT TO MOVE DAILY AND EAT HEALTHY FOODS. This is called life. The way we eat when we gain our weight is not life...that's living in a dream world where you can do what you want and expect there to be no consquences. It's unrealistic thinking or you wouldn't have to change anything.

The bottom line is those who want to make this a lifestyle do. It's never easy, it takes work, and it takes living your life for purpose rather than just letting life always happen to you. Don't be the person who allows their life to slip away because they didn't want to do the work to change circumstances.

Lifestyle Exercise: Try this so you can identify what's going on in your life that stops you from being who you want to be. (This came from prevention.com.)

Draw a circle on a piece of paper and divide it into eight sections. In each section, list a part of your life: career, health, family, finances, friendship, romance, etc. Each affects your ability to follow through with your workouts and eat right. Now rate each area: If it's going well, write a plus sign; poorly, a minus sign. The negative areas are all potential pitfalls, so list small steps you can take each day to improve. You might call a friend with whom you've lost touch, or update your resume and search for a more rewarding job.

Each night before bed, take a look at the next day and list a couple of small things you can do to make the day move towards erasing those pitfalls. Sketch out your day and then follow your plan. You'll sleep better and you will be more likely to have a day you are in control of rather than a day that is controlling you.

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Food Journal for 3.25.08