It’s Monday! You know what I love about this day? It’s the first day of the week: the day to right your wrongs. You drank beer while watching the game on Sunday? Okay, so did most of the rest of the nation, as the Cowboys tanked another opportunity for a “W.” Maybe you ate pizza, nachos, wings, or all of the above. It’s over, done with, kaput, history! Lamenting your diet pitfall this weekend is going to do one thing: keep you thinking about it, get you down, and cause you to continue making poor diet decisions.
Consider today the day to flush your system with water, whole grains, and lots of veggies. Keep a diet and exercise journal for the rest of the week, and steer that train back on track. When the weekend comes back around this weekend, have your defensive line ready for the temptations that those lax days bring. Here are some suggestions:
1. If you go to a game-watching party, bring a veggie tray.
2. Write out your meal plan for the day, including exactly what you will eat for meals and snacks (including serving size and times). It’s easier to stick to a program if you have a game plan to follow!
3. If you’re going to a friends house and you know everyone will be drinking alcohol, bring a thermos or large cup, and fill ‘er up with mineral water. No one needs to know or care that you’re drinking mineral water while they’re downing 600 calories per margarita!
4. Plan when you will get a workout in. Weekends can easily end up getting overly programmed and before you know it, you’ve missed your workout altogether. Whether it’s a sunrise jog at 6:45am or attending a mid-morning yoga class (if you’re an Austinite, consider my 8:30am Yoga on the Lake class at Pure Austin Quarry Lake on Saturday mornings), have a plan for when your workout will fit in.
5. Make yourself go to bed! It is tempting on the weekends to stay up too late, since you don’t have to go to work the next morning, but not getting enough quality sleep can lead to your diet’s demise. (See my blog on Sleep in the 101 Ways to Lose Weight countdown. It’s amazing the physiological changes that take place when you do or do not get enough sleep).
6. Allow yourself to sit on your bum and watch one full game in entirety. That’s about 3-hours of parking it on the couch! Try to limit it to one game, then catch ESPN highlights of the others.
Hopefully these tips will help ready your defensive line for the wicked temptation they’ll be up against next weekend. You are stronger than you think. Although last weekend may have knocked you down, you are resilient!
I’m raising my glass (of Topo Chico) to a great week of eating clean and exercising, and wishing you (and Tony Romo) better luck next weekend!