Imagine this: You are about the sit down with a cup of coffee in the morning. Your belly is not hungry, yet. You are relaxed. You're enjoying the quiet time with your journal and a new pen. Aaahhhh...that feels so nice just thinking about it!
The person you are in that moment in thinking about her future, right? You're thinking about the goals you have. You're thinking about the real strong lifestyle you are working on. You feel optimistic and excited about the bigger picture. You're thinking about the results you plan to see at the end of the week and how you want to feel when you measure progress. You care about today just as much as tomorrow and the future.
So when you make your plans for the day...make them from THIS place that I just described. When you think about breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack you are realistically planning real strong plates without the emotions tied to 'in the moment' decision making!
This valuable skill takes only a few moments the night before or the morning of and can be a great habit to stack onto a morning cup of coffee or a sip, stroll and scroll!
Let's be real. Without a plan... the smell of a cheeseburger is going to make the decision for you in the heat of the moment. 'No time' between clients is going to equal grabbing not so healthy snacks and stuffing them in your face instead of eating your 'what could have been easy to plan ahead' lunch. Without a plan, the heat of the month has us feeling like - "Aww, who cares?! I'm too tired, stressed and busy to make a better choice!"
Planning ahead simply helps us eat with a purpose. Eating with a purpose is eating foods that make us feel GOOD...even when we are "too busy to think about it". We have a vision for what we want...not today, but for the future as well.
Alright, here's what you need to do. Take five minutes at night or five minutes in the morning (yep, that's all!!) to think about all your meals and snacks in addition to:
- What sounds good?
- What's been fueling you?
- What fresh veggies and fruits do you have on hand?
- What will your family want for dinner?
- Where are you going to be?
- What are you going to be doing?
- What time of the month is it?
- What cravings might you have?
- What sweet treats might be tempting you?
- What feels like an easy and doable plan for the day?
All of the factors are REAL LIFE. The plan might be different from day to day which is even more of a reason to PLAN ahead to be successful and learn to PIVOT and still feel in control when needed.
Final thoughts -- Making changes to the plan is REAL LIFE but having that plan to start with is REAL helpful!
Need some help seeing what is holding you back? Take my Diet Demon Quiz HERE to start: melanielund.com/ddquiz