Solution– Don’t try to make too many changes to your diet at once. Instead, make small manageable changes that, if consistently applied, build new habits. Once you have mastered that, choose the next thing you wish to change. Smaller changes over time lead to more significant successes because it is easier to adhere to.

Food prep allows you the ability to:

• Keeps money in your pocket with less take out
• Snack less on junk
• You will be eating balanced meals
• Eating correct portions
• Keep blood levels stable, so we don’t have spikes in blood sugar.’
• Reduce time in the kitchen cooking diner
• And keeps us in control of our eating habits

Prepping does not need to be overwhelming or take all day. Here are some simple tips to help you stay on track.

1. Create a diner menu for the week.
2. Shop your menu, and a few healthy snack options (cottage cheese, PB, veggies, yogurt, fruit)
3. Have food prep containers with different compartments; you can also get snack-sized ones.
4. Decided if you will be saving the night before dinner as a lunch and which day

After shopping and putting away food, get to work.

• If you plan on having a leftover dinner for lunch, I would suggest making that meal first and start portioning the lunch container
• Then for other days, you can make a large salad for dinner. From that portion, three more food containers for lunch. (now you have salad for three days)
• For quick protein on that salad, I purchase a rotisserie chicken. Cut the breast and remove skin and place the sliced breast on salad. 
• You can put fruit, cottage cheese, boiled egg,  avocado, or measured out dressing in the third compartment.

Tada! Lunch for three-four days.

Here are some great tips when food prepping dinners, especially if you’re a busy working mom.

• Prep veggies and store in a container (cuts prep time night of meal)
• Pre-make your salad if you’re eating that during dinner. (a paper towel on top and bottom of the container will keep moister from making leaves soggy)
• If cooking pasta, cook it over the weekend and store it in a container
• If you have a slower cooker, use it dinner will be ready when you walk in 

Meal prep can help you on the go for breakfast and lunch; It can also shave time off our cooking for dinners. The options are endless and can be as easy as prepping scrambled eggs for breakfast to saving leftovers for lunch. The trick to successful prepping is figuring out what works best for your lifestyle and sticking to it.

So get planning and have some fun.

Let’s get right to it; this week, we are going over the barrier of ambivalence.

Webster defines ambivalence as a “continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite).” Or “Uncertainty as to which approach to follow.”

I found that super interesting because I never realized how big a role ambivalence had in how we chose to change poor habits and develop better ones.

This week I was thinking a lot about this barrier. I listened to women speaking while I was out shopping, at the gym, and even at family events.  Women are unhappy with where their health has gotten but yet are stuck.

I heard things like, “I would love to work out and get back into shape, but my kids have practice.”

“I wish I could lose this weight, but I don’t want to give up my relaxing evenings.”

“The only way I will get to a gym is early in the morning…I am much too busy during the day, and I am not a morning person.”  

As I reflected on some of these statements, I realized I had said a few of them myself.  I finally broke that barrier when I decided to commit to what I wanted. It was then I was able to achieve my goals.

With commitment, there is no fluctuation because there is a reason for your decision. So why are you trying to lose weight or make lifestyle changes?

What is the real motivation that is driving you? Once you have figured that out, it’s time to commit to change. 

Everyone’s journey will look different. Some can do this alone; others need a community and some need coaching.  No matter how your journey goes, this principle applies. To succeed in what you set out to do, you need to commit to the process and create a plan.  Once you have a plan, work the plan, and you will see results. If you do not commit, it’s easy to waver back and forth and find other reasons to prevent you from what you want until you finally have had enough of where you are and take action.

These last few weeks, we have been lightly (I use the term lightly because there are many layers in each barrier that can hinder a person.), covering how to break some of the obstacles that hinder us from our health or fitness goals.

So far, we went over: time, unrealistic goals, and support. Today we will chat about Convenience.

About three years ago, I weighed almost three hundred pounds.  I remember waking up and saying, “how did I get here?”

The answer was simple.  I chose to put everyone else before myself.  I am highly driven, and I want everything I set out to do, done with excellence. So, I kept a tidy house, cared for my tribe, and made sure they had time for sports and anything else on their list. Then, I gave it to my husband, friends, & family; everyone except me.  When family encouraged me to go to the gym, my line was, “I’m too busy to get to the gym. My kids have sports; I work then have to keep the house; I need to spend quality time with the husband.” I honestly did not know where or how to “make the time”; it was too much work.

After almost hitting three hundred pounds and health issues popping up, I had no choice but to make adjustments and reclaim my health. I finally made myself a priority, and trust me, that was not easy, but I did it one step at a time, and you can too.

Living busy lives and caring for so many people around us, it becomes easy to neglect our own needs. So often exhausted and thinking of grabbing another coffee to keep us awake, we are not thinking of hopping on a treadmill or bike.

So how do we set ourselves up for success by cracking through the “busy barrier?” Start by making ourselves a priority.

Here are a few simple tips to help make getting active easier.

1. Keep a gym bag in the car: extra clothes, an empty water bottle, and a towel.
2. If your gym is near your house, take that root home, so it’s on the way.
3. If you are an earlier riser and plan to work out in the morning, try setting out gym clothes out the night before.  It makes rolling out of bed and getting ready easier
4. Find a thing you love.  It can be biking, walking, yoga, HITT, swimming, CrossFit.  The list is endless.  But if you find one thing that you love, it makes it easier to “want to do it.”
5. Schedule 30 minutes at least three days to do that thing you love. Before you know it, you will be adding time or days. The keyword is a schedule.  If you do not set a time for it, something else will take your time.

Practicing these simple tips will limit our excuses for not working out.

Have a good weekend and stay moving.

For along time I had asked my self those same questions while feeling defeated when standing on the scale and not seeing results.  

When I started my weight loss journey a nutritionist said to me.  How can my husband or friends support me if I cant help myself? At first I was annoyed at her comment and then she explained.  

“In order for someone to support you fully they need to have clear direction.  If you don’t have clear direction on what your goals are and how you plan to achieve them, How do you expect them to hold you accountable.”

That afternoon I went home and wrote out why I was unhappy with my self, what I wanted to change, why I wanted to change it and tried to make a plan the best way I knew how.  

I shared it with my family and close friends explaining that if they saw me straying from my plans they needed to keep me accountable.  All of a sudden I had a support system I never had.

The solution was communicating my problem, explaining my position, presenting my game plan then asking for help and accountability.  This showed my friends and family I was serious and they understood how they could help. See our friends and family want to help they just need clear direction on what that will look like for you.  

. 

Lastly, if we feel our support failed us.   That does not give us permission to fail our selves.  We have chosen to trade the unhealthy habits for healthy ones.   So we need to commit to the process regardless of who is cheering us on. We need to chose perseverance and keep going no matter how hard it gets.  

So, stay focused, stay committed, and stay connected.

See you next week