Spring Holiday Prep

HOLIDAYS…. As we head into another Monday we look ahead and see Passover / Easter and Spring Break approaching fast. It’s only 2 weeks away and will be here before you know it. Whatever you do this is not the time to “WAIT” until after the Holiday/Break to get back on program. In two weeks you could lose 5lbs instead of gaining 10lbs. In two weeks you can feel a little lighter and healthier then you do today. What you have to do is just get right back on program or continue on your path… because when the Holiday and Break arrive you don’t want to feel bloated and heavy. You want to go into the Holidays feeling like you can enjoy without guilt. You can enjoy without worrying about adding pounds onto the extra weight you put on the last two weeks. Just don’t fall into the feelings of “I will just go back on program after the holiday” – wrong attitude! The right attitude – You should always be following. Even if you are busy and you are preparing and you know you will be cooking and baking more – you have to remember your first thought in the morning is to follow your program and you do it the very best you can each day. Always remember 80-20 is better than 50-50. And 4 great days with 2 not so great days and 1 cheat day is better than 7 straight “off” days or 7 straight “cheat days”. So even in your busiest time, with holidays, kids, and preparing – you always try to do your best everyday. While some weeks will be amazing and perfect others will be “okay” and that’s always better than “horrible.”

SCALE – IS THIS YOU? BE AWARE – of what you are doing and how it’s affecting you. Sometimes I see that clients go on the scale and they are amazed that it either went up or they didn’t lose. They will tell me that they had a hard challenging week and it was tough to stay on course or they know they had “off” days but they did the best they could. But then they step on the scale on “weigh in” day and they are disappointed that it didn’t go down. Like how the scale is going to reflect the stress and pressure you had on you the past week but it wouldn’t count in your weight because it feels bad for you. Just so we are all clear – the scale is not magic and doesn’t have feelings. It doesn’t care whether you had the most stressful challenging week – it doesn’t give you points for being a little good or better than you could have been. If you eat too much it’s gonna show in your numbers. The scale doesn’t have a brain and it’s not going to deduct numbers because your boss was mean or your kids were driving you nuts or because you wanted to eat dinner with your husband/wife or hang out with your friends. No it’s not going to be less because you wanted it to be or because you didn’t do as terrible as you could have. The scale is going to reflect exactly how you treated yourself that week. If you were 100% on program then it will go down, and if you were not great it’s probably going to stay the same as the week before, and if you over did it – it’s going to be higher. The only time the scale shows a temporary increase that is not real is on two occasions – after a weight workout because your muscles are swollen and you have not released the lactic acid (this usually disappears within 2-3 days after the workout) OR after a Cheat day when your body is processing all the new food but in return working harder than it did the day before your Cheat Day. BOTH of these will only work in your favor and go down lower than before if you are back on program after the Cheat Day and if you do not eat more because you exercised. Keep the process simple. If you are on 110% you will lose – if you are having some good and bad days you will maintain (which is always better than a gain), and if you are cheating all the time it will go up. You know what you are doing and how well you are doing it – the choice is always yours.

Sometimes it’s really hard to stay focused all the time. That’s why we have Sharks and Snails and while you may be one or the other you can always be both – just don’t be a Slug!

Sharks – My Sharks are on all the time and always see results and usually make everything look effortless. While I can assure you most of them suffer and text me as much as the next person, the bottom line is they are always on. They love and embrace the six days on and one day off and they love and embrace how they feel and look. Food is fuel and Cheat Day is exciting. That’s who they are and they love being sharks.

Snails – Then I have my snails and they are usually on they move a little slower. Whether it’s because of social life or just because they are happy moving along slowly – they are happy and always in the right direction. It just takes them little longer to get there. They are always happy with their process. They own it if they were “off” and celebrate when they are “on.”  They live with the six days on and one day off but sometimes their six days tend to be a little more of healthy or a little extra. While every snail is different the most important thing is they are happy and embrace being a snail. They love the consistency of who they are and how they live.

Sharks/Snails – some of you are very good at being both. You are Sharks some days (most of the time when you have to be, like right before a vacation), and other days you are snails and you are fine with always being on and incorporating a little extra motivation and determination when you need it while living and moving at a snails pace when it suits you.

SLUGS – The one thing you don’t want to be is a SLUG! A slug doesn’t move it just sits there stuck getting bigger and bigger. The process of growing may be slow or fast but either way it’s happening. The slug wants to move – it even sees where it wants to go but it just doesn’t have the motivation or determination to get there. Compared to a slug the snail is a marathon runner! Why would you be a slug? Because it’s easy to be a slug. It’s easy to get stuck and just keep sitting, and talking about what you want and thinking about what you want but when it comes to putting it into motion it’s just too much effort. It’s always going to be easier to do nothing but it’s never rewarding. It will always be easier to talk about how much you want it without putting the effort and work in to get there. Once you are a slug it’s not so easy to get out of it. It takes a lot of effort to get things moving and get re-motivated. It’s so much easier to sit and watch TV and eat treats then it is to plan, prepare and do the right things for your body and mind. Simply put, it’s easy to eat and it’s hard not too. It’s easy to sit and it’s harder to keep moving.

If you are a Shark or a Snail be happy and own it, and if you are a Slug or turning into one – you need to get moving and have your body start catching up to what the mind wants. We all have choices in life of how we want to live and what we want out of life. At the end of the day you are the only person who can make your life amazing. You are the only person who can make yourself happy, healthy and feel good. We are here for you, will guide you and give you the tools – but it’s still up to you to stay on your path and work hard everyday to become the person you want to be and live the life you want to have.