Sometimes everything just falls apart. You may have it all together one day and then have a relative die or get really sick or go on holiday and by the time you have dealt with that, you find it really hard to get back into the swing of things. It can be hard!
But it doesn’t have to be. Start easy.
Choose one thing at a time and reintroduce it again that way.
If you think about all the things you were doing before and you get overwhelmed, stop thinking that way!
Pick thing number one. I would choose exercise first because once you start training your body will make you want healthier food so the transition will be easier. And you can start it today without going anywhere or buying anything. There is no excuse why you can’t exercise today.
For instance, get up and go for a walk. You may have to put shoes on. If it’s raining you may have to put a jacket on.
If you don’t want to go out in the rain, do one set of pushups and one set of squats, then do another of each, and another of each until you have had enough. Even if you only do one set you’ve done something today.
Workout 1 is now done. Tomorrow you can do something else, but at least you will have started rather than putting it off until the next day or the next day…
Maybe tomorrow you can call up about the Bootcamp or join a gym or sports team or whatever. Or if you are really motivated call them now because then it’s done.
The hard part isn’t the exercise; it’s making the phone call or sending the email that COMMITS you to the process.
Get your diary and schedule exercise into your day.
You used to do that, but since you got into the rut, you filled that time with something else. Take your time back!
Put aside however long you want to each day or whatever number of days you choose. Plan out what you are going to do and then when the time comes around, do it.
Don’t schedule an hour and a half workout for your first week back. 30 minutes will do the trick and if you feel like that’s too much, do as much as you can.
Exercise is now dealt with. You have a plan and now just have to follow through on your word and be consistent. Let’s move on to food.
If you been eating whatever you can find because it’s all you can manage, then it’s time to change things up again. And restarting your old habits shouldn’t be too hard, but can still seem overwhelming.
Keep It Simple Superstar.
Find a few healthy takeout options.
It may take some time but it can be done. There are plenty of Indian and Asian restaurants that do takeout meals. Choose the ones with meat and vegetables and leave the rice, or if it’s on a hard training day you could get a small rice.
Make a list of healthy meals that are really easy to prepare.
If they are easy then there’s a chance you will make them.
Last week I cooked a beef mince stir fry with 3 ingredients.
- Beef Mince
- 500g Frozen Veg
- Seasoning
I cooked it while changing a car battery. That’s how difficult it was to make.
Brown mince. Lift bonnet on car.
Stir mince. Loosen battery cables.
Add seasoning. Remove old battery and replace with new one.
Add vegetables. Retighten battery cables and reset clock.
Serve dinner.
I didn’t cook it using the engine but maybe one day I’ll try…
Another easy meal is grilled steak or chicken or lamb or fish or pork with steamed vegetables.
Grill the meat or fish.
Steam the frozen vegetables.
Serve and eat.
The more simple you make it for yourself the easier it will be.
Always cook enough for at least 2 meals, more if you have time.
If you get bored of eating the same meals each day, freeze the leftovers into individual serves. Pull them out when necessary for lunch or dinner and eating healthy will be so much easier.
Make sure you have plenty of containers onhand to put the leftovers in. The best type are the clear rectangular ones they use at many takeaway restaurants as they stack easy and you can fit a ton of them in your fridge or freezer. That serving size (not jam packed like at the restaurants) might be pretty good for you too.
Make some time on the weekend to cook some meals for the week.
If I didn’t do this I would eat takeout all the time because I get tired and run out of time which makes preparing healthy food and eating well very hard.
On Sunday morning I made a batch of pea soup and a curry at the same time. I’ll get 5 meals from the curry and around 20-25 serves of veg from the pea soup. All I need to do is heat it up and it’s good to eat.
It took about and hour and a half to pump out 2 dishes which will keep me going for 3 or 4 days. I was watching a movie at the time which made the time fly but I enjoy cooking anyway.
So let’s recap our plan to get you of of your rut.
- If you schedule exercise in your diary and start doing it with no excuses, you’ve got week 1 covered.
- You make a list of takeout places and you choose to eat there in favour of the fattier, slightly closer place. Make the extra 1 minute drive if necessary and you will be much happier in the long run. That’s week 2.
- Make a list of healthy meals that are really easy to prepare. Schedule this into your diary as a priority job. You may want a shopping list before you get to the shops. Buy only whats on the list. Week 3 is done.
- Always cook enough for at least 2 meals, more if you have time. You’ve already been shopping and you just have to cook plenty now. You should build up a few meals in the fridge or freezer as backup and that’s week 4 done.
- Make some time on the weekend to cook some meals for the week. Schedule this into your diary as a regular thing. You used to so do it again. That’s your job for week 5.
After 5 weeks you should be back exercising and eating reasonably well without getting too over loaded. You may find that you can do it quicker, but plan to do it this way and let the process unfold. You’ll be out of your rut and back on track before you know it.
