Different things work for different people. For me, when I have gone wayward, here is what I do to get back on track.1. Track my last three meals and any snacks between them, to the best of my ability. Just track it, no judgement.
2. Plan my next three meals, and go shopping for the ingredients (also shop to stock house with healthy foods - see #4 below).
3. Remove my food triggers from home/work. This means identifying which foods you have a hard time avoiding, or find yourself eating too much of when they are present. I really can't have sliced bread, cookies, candy, cereals, pretzels, chips, raisins/dried fruit, or anything like that around. Typically, I don't buy these things, and DH knows that if he wants it, he'll have to keep it and eat it outside our house. If I do end up with it in the house, I offload it as quickly as I can by asking DH to take it to work, take it to work myself and drop it in the break room for others, take it to a firehouse, food shelter, etc. At work, if there is a candy dish I am unable to avoid or resist, I chew cinnamon or mint gum and put a bag of cuties/halos (those little tangerines) next to it.
4. Stock my house with healthy foods. Here are my go-tos:
- nuts - single serve packs are best, but I'm ok having a big bag, too
- string cheese and mini babybels
- veggies (cut and prep when you bring them in)
- - cucumbers
- - celery
- - baby carrots
- - bell peppers
- olives
- individual Wholly Guacamole packets
- beef jerky in single-serving packets
- watermelon
- bananas
- eggs
- raw spinach / salad greens
- greek yogurt
- berries
- frozen veggie burgers, turkey burgers, salmon burgers
- frozen broccoli
- frozen chicken breast, cooked (Tyson makes some, or you can make your own - cook it up one day, chop it and freeze for later use or to add to veggie stir-fry, soups, salads, etc.)
- I attend Weight Watchers meetings regularly - I get food ideas, talk through things with others who understand, share what has worked, etc. That may not be for you - but I like the interaction. 1/2 hour per week.
- I also create some structured environment for planning my actions for the next week. I set aside 1/2 hour per week (usually right after my WW meeting) to plan out how the upcoming week will look; I loosely write down plans for exercise (AM Weights, PM walk dog, etc.) and what meals might look like. Note any social events or work lunches, things that could trip me up... this really helps, and it also provides grocery store shopping guidelines! This takes me about 1/2 hour per week to do, including making the shopping list.
- Finally, each night before I go to bed, I take about 10 minutes to plan out my next day's food in my tracker (I have been using myfitnesspal.com). I generally stick to the plan, but if a friend asks me to meet for dinner, I go, and do my best to order something close to what I had planned.
6. Follow your plan. If you are having a hard time following it, no mental flogging!! Be kind to yourself as you explore the reasons behind your deviation. Do not say anything to yourself that you would not say to a friend. And if you start realizing you are beating yourself up, gently remind yourself to be nice, and move forward by making the next decision a good one. Adjust your plan, and move on.
And that's it. The first step is the hardest, but then, once you get momentum it's easy to keep it going.
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