Coming back from vacation can be so depressing for so many reasons. #1 You are no longer in your version of "paradise", #2 You are most likely back to work, and #3 You have to get back into the swing of things. I honestly think that #3 is by far the most difficult.
While at the beach, I decided to give myself a cheat week. I ate whatever, whenever...even bought cookies at the grocery store (terrible idea). I figured, what's one week? I've been extremely dedicated to health & fitness for a long time, this is my VACATION time to have some fun! It wasn't until I came home that I realized WHY I have been altering my lifestyle and HOW MUCH BETTER I have felt since doing so.
To begin - the sugars. Sugar is awful, I'm putting it out there now. I was drinking Nestea, Seagrams, eating those damn cookies, etc. and when I went to stop...my mind was telling me that I needed more! The cravings were unreal; now I know how pregnant women feel with their cravings. Let me tell you, I NEVER utilize the vending machine at work. The one day I felt like someone trying to quit smoking, snapped, and ran down and got Little Debbies (oh the shame I felt afterward..and the stomach ache).
See, what you don't realize prior to moving toward a more healthy lifestyle are the benefits that come with the lifestyle. When I am eating clean, I feel clean. I feel light, I feel amazing, my mood is constantly up rather than flip flopping all over the place - I just feel better. I feel ready to take on the day. Eating crap for a week made me feel like crap. My mood was all over the place, I never felt full - I always wanted more food (which also was detrimental when I returned)..I just felt like garbage because I was filling myself up with garbage. Truly - you don't realize how food is a fuel until you switch it up on yourself.
Last week was a huge challenge for me. I was craving sugars, fatty foods, etc. I was in the habit of coming off the beach and grabbing a cookie, so I'd come home from work and grab something to eat. I was not in a routine, and to be honest...part of me felt like such crap that I didn't even want to get back into the routine. I didn't want to run, I didn't want to workout. And this went on for days. One week of "letting go" caused a lot of damage, in my opinion.
HOWEVER, much of the fitness aspect of your life is a mind game. It is always mind over matter whether you are lifting, running, or doing intense cardio training like Insanity. Your mind gives up far faster than your body does, and the trick to overcoming those things (and in my case getting back on "the wagon") is to overcome yourself. So each day I took it little by little by adding in physical activity again, and cutting out crappy foods. Finally, on Sunday, I utilized my Beachbody Meal Planner and went grocery shopping. It was really weird how a full cart of fresh fruits and veggies made me smile (who knew!) From there I made myself prepare in advance. I chopped veggies, created my little snack bags of healthy snacks so I could grab and go throughout the week, set aside the dinners for each night and mentally prepared for the week ahead. This week I've been getting out there and working out each day, and while some days I might do better than others, I know I'm back on the path to getting to where I was prior to vacation.
Sometimes we need to kick ourselves in the ass - if I'm going to be blunt about it. Too many times we look towards others as a crutch..we search for someone to tell us to do something, but what we really need to learn how to do is to put on our big girl panties and tell ourselves what we HAVE to do. Your journey is yours...it doesn't belong, nor should it be determined, by anyone else. If you want to allow yourself to slack, then have fun being a slacker; but if you want to see yourself succeed, then even on the worst of days you need to climb back up in that saddle and try again...and again.....and again, until you get it right.
Here are some great resources if you would like to start finding some clean recipes:
Beachbody Meal Planner Simply sign up as a Club Member and you are on your way to a customized weekly meal plan that take out what you don't like, chooses the healthiest of options for your calorie consumption AND creates your shopping list AND organizes it into sections of the grocery store for easy location. Seriously - it doesn't get any easier than this!!
http://www.eatcleandiet.com/ There are a TON of yummy recipes on this site. My husband is very picky and would be happy eating steak every night, and even HE loves these recipes!
http://www.livestrong.com/ Always a great resource to find information on health/nutrition/exercise
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