Hi Friends! Do you ever feel like your intentions for something are so great but you struggle to create a plan? For instance, do you want to improve your health but struggle to create a plan for better health?
Isn’t it crazy how you can be so motivated, so on course, and something just knocks you right off? For me this last, nearly two weeks, has been one of those times. It seemed like everywhere I turned something was changing, my to-do’s seemed to be piling and I couldn’t seem to get ahead or do anything right.
I found myself tired, eating like garbage, stressed, and snapping at everyone around me. I woke in the morning feeling tired and a few days even with a headache. I was reaching for soda as a caffeine fix and I am ashamed to say how many nights we’ve eaten out because I just wasn’t motivated to cook. I think it also goes without saying, little to no productive exercise was completed during this time either.
Tips for Creating a Plan for Better Health
It would be very easy for me to get down and discouraged about the way I am feeling, the weight I have gained, or the lack of motivation I have. But no matter how ‘real’ those feelings are, they are NOT productive and so this weekend I made the conscious decision that enough was enough.
1. Identify Your Needs
It is incredibly important as mamas, that we advocate for ourselves. All to often women and moms, push their own needs aside because we are so busy making sure everyone else in our lives has what they need. The end result is a mama with an empty cup and and an overwhelmed soul.
So I was honest with myself and my husband…what I needed most to shake this funk, was to get out of my own head. I needed a few hours to focus on just me and not my to-do list.
Sure I felt the mama guilt and the pangs of selfishness BUT I am worth the occasional bout of selfishness. So Saturday, my mom and I spent the afternoon at Ikea while the kiddos hung out with the hubs.
It might seem like an insignificant errand to some, but it was time for my mom and me to hang out, chat (uninterrupted) and I even got to finish all of my OWN meal. It was the perfect refresher to give me the motivation to get back on track.
2. Make a Plan
Knowing I needed to do better and make better choices was the easy part. The hard part is always the actual DOING part. And the best way to “DO” is to plan.
So on Saturday night I told my husband on Sunday I would need to: meal prep, plan my workouts for the week and pick up the house.
By setting out the intentions and putting the intentions into action I know I will actually get back on track.
3. Meal Prep:
This goes without saying really, but planning ahead keeps me from straying off course. I use my planner to plan out what we will eat for the week as well as to track my water intake and workout overview. Writing things down helps me stay organized and minimize stress.
My goal is to have 5-7 meals planned that can be moved around from night to night depending on what works best. This also allows for leftovers for lunches the next day.
If I don’t plan out our meals ahead of time I am much, much more likely to give in to eating out and frankly that is the thing I am working at stopping ASAP!
To prep I like to wash and cut all my produce so it is easy to access and ready for use. It makes cooking, packing lunches, and giving out snacks much easier (and healthier).
I recently started using a veggie tray with a lid to keep all the cut up veggies and fruit. This makes it easy to store and I can pull it out easily rather than 3-4 separate bowls.
4. Plan the Week’s Workouts
Again back to planning ahead here. By planning my workouts I don’t waste time trying to figure out what I am going to do. It helps me to stay focused and be efficient. I like to keep my workouts (unless it is a run) no more than 30 minutes. So this means I need to be ready to get started right away.
I keep planning pretty simple. I have a spiral notebook where I plan the week and then a page for each day. I use each day’s page to keep track of the reps completed, weight used, and how I felt for each exercise so I know how to adjust later if needed.
5. Giving Grace and Being Better
Creating a plan for better health has helped me to feel confident for the week ahead. I know I will have ups and downs in this journey, perhaps even more than ever before because I am a mom.
It is important to always remember I can make my next decision a better one and use the tools I have to continue improving. So this week I will be better. I will fuel my body kindly. I will move my body to be stronger. I will speak kindly to myself and focus on the good in this wonderful life. Because I deserve it and so do you!
You are worthy of grace as well mama! We are naturally flawed beings so to expect perfection is unfair. We will all make mistakes in our journeys to better ourselves but the important piece is what you do when you fall off the tracks.
What tools have worked best for you? How do you handle getting knocked off course? Comment below and let’s share with one another!
