Thursday, January 7, 2010

failing to plan is planning to fail

So here we are in a new year and I look back over the past year and not a lot has changed with my weight and for once I know exactly why. I wandered aimlessly. I'd do this for a few days, that for a few weeks, then treat myself because I did have that one day where I was slightly winded after a walk around the block and even though that was two weeks ago it still counts as exercise right?

We hear "be kind to yourself" well I'm a little too kind. I treat myself like a spoiled princess and while some aspects of that are good when it comes to losing weight treating myself like a spoiled princess just isn't going to get the job done.

So I look back at some of the times when I've been most successful in my efforts and those times have been well structured. Yes, structured. There is a great book I read a while back called The Structure House Weight Loss Plan, it really changed my life for about 12 weeks and then the princess came out to play and I gave in to her pouting and fed her cake, lots and lots of cake. Oh sure it shut her up but you can't have a cake stuffed princess without letting the dragon out of the dungeon and this dragon is the binge monster and my fights with the binge monster have been well documented in this blog.

While I don't agree with everything in the book it is big on menu planning and I plan if for no other reason than  it takes the guess work out of the million dollar question "what should I make for dinner" The truth of the matter is, some of my strongest "cravings" have come while thinking what I should make for dinner and in the end I make this lie meal. Its a lie because I've told myself I've healthfied it up but there is no denying that chicken parmesan I was craving and made "healthy" wasn't so healthy after I got done with it.

Anyhow, back to reality, back to menu planning. No more wondering aimlessly through my life. I've had this revelation before but for some reason I tend to wander so far away.This year my goal is to stay anchored and never lose sight of where I'm going. I'm going to plan because just like that old saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail...I'm done failing.
Posted by Scale Junkie
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20 comments:

  1. Nice post...continuing to emphasize the mind over matter principle that if we don't mind, it won't matter.

    Ironically, I made "healthy" chicken parm tonight. It was 2oz of whole wheat pasta, 1/2 cup marinara, 159g of chicken breast, and 1oz of mozzarella cheese. It was probably only 2-3 tbs of breadcrumbs to goat it, likely much less. I used cooking spray to coat the chicken instead of oil and I baked it instead of frying.

    While it turned out great, it was still 660cal when all recorded in the Bodybugg food log. Gotta keep an eye on even the healthy foods.

    Kyle
    kgershman.blogspot.com
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  2. I tended to eat the worst when I had no plan, but I've been attempting to meal plan for a while now (and then I'd usually venture off-plan pretty quickly, but that's something else entirely...). Anyway, I've stuck to a meal plan I made for the entire month of January for a whopping 6 days now and I absolutely love it! I *can't* eat stuff I shouldn't eat because, dammit, I planned to eat something else! It's such a little change but it has really helped me quite a lot. Good luck!
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  3. I find if I journal what I plan to eat the evening before I stay on plan better, even if life happens and things change I will try stay within the points/calories I planned for the meal.

    http://juliasjourney-finally.blogspot.com/
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  4. Ah, thank you for that tip: this year I resolved to be kinder to myself (because I'm not - I'm far nastier to myself than I'd ever dream of being to anyone else), but I can definitely see where it would be easy to slip into coddling myself.

    I meal plan because if I don't, we'd eat grilled cheese sandwiches & pizza every night. I'm thinking I need to start planning my snacks, too, so I don't resort to the same thing every day and get sick of them (and then start eating crap).
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  5. i'm with you!! i'm done failing at losing weight. we can do this!

    leethroughthelens.blogspot.com
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  6. We are on the same wave length right now! I agree, some of my most successful times with weight loss were times that I was planning out a weeks worth of dinners. I always knew what I was going to have for lunch the next day. It just works. Unless your some kind of master chef that can make a healthy meal out of a can of ravioli's (not me) I have to plan my meals ahead. I also like what Tisha says over at her blog. She talks about decision free days, those are days when all the variables are planned out and you don't have to think about it! :)
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  7. I totally agree. If I've learned anything this year, it's that we have to behave like responsible adults, and that means being responsible for what we eat and how/what kind of exercise we do or don't. We have to stop acting like children, knee-jerk reacting to stress or boredom by overeating, and not exercising because we don't want to or are too lazy to do it. That's not responsible. Once we start becoming consistently responsible, the pounds melt off. It's true!
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  8. Hi, I'm a newbie to your blog and I'm enjoying it! Meal planning is something I'm terrible at and would really like to do better. The 'what's for dinner' issue causes me to eat junk entirely too often.
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  9. Totally with what you have said...we have to stop being nice to ourselves when we have done well for 3 months....we slacken off the pace...then the pace slips right by us and we are eating out of control and the exercise has disappeared completely...aghhhh...as Sunny said, we have to be responsible or what I say "accountable" for what we are doing....if we want to see the changes we have to make the changes...we are it girls...we can do it. I am determined this year is the year. Hugs Khris
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  10. I'm in the same boat as you, but I am really hoping to get in gear this year!
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  11. I should have added to the post that when I do get a craving, I add it to my suggestion list for next weeks menu, typically by the time I plan that week of menu the craving food is no longer a craving thus saving myself THOUSANDS of calories!!
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  12. Great post!

    I need to get better at meal planning. Right now, I have about 4 quick "recipes" where I can slap ingredients together and call them meals. I need to make "real" food.

    Best of luck, you can do it!

    Julia
    http://jewliagoulia.blogspot.com
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  13. Awesome! I've come to love meal planning. Weight Watchers website has some great recipes, SparkPeople has some great recipes. I get recipes from health magazines too. It's become really fun for me to look for new ones and actually try different stuff every week.
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  14. I wish I had a nickel (okay, maybe a dollar) for every time I had to circle back and "re-learn" something. :)

    Good for you, Diana, for recognizing what works and getting to it!
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  15. I laughed at your IM TOO KIND remark because...I SO SO SO resemble that remark and many people do not get it.

    HOORAY for back to basics.
    where do I sign up for you to plan and organize my meals??

    Miz.
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  16. Yep, meal planning is a definite must for me if I want to maintain healthy eating habits!

    If I might make one additional suggestion? I'm learning it also helps to have a plan for when I fail slip, which is inevitable. No recriminations, which for me can start a downward spiral, just an attitude of "Right, that happened, now here are the very basic steps I need to do to get back on track."
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  17. Looks like you and I should send our Princesses packing to Antarctica...

    I've set my goals for the new year, too--in ten week increments. A year is just too overwhelming.

    Hope you share your goals with us here, once you get them finished--nothing like a little social media spark to light a fire LOL!

    Best--

    Beth
    DonutsAlwaysWin.com
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  18. I need to do something different this year too... working on a way to keep me strong while I have a day or so of stress. I was doing so good, then Wed is was like a slide...
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  19. Not meal planning is the most dangerous for me. I am trying to consistently have food available for eating, leftovers, cottage cheese, smoked fish and sprouts on crackers, or whatever, if there's nothing easy at home and I'm starving, I'm likely to eat something out of convenience that's generally much heavier than anything I would eat at home.
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  20. I love your description of the 'binge monster'...too true that is for lots of people. Preplanning is a great way to keep track of not just your food intake, but to record what happens when you do go off plan. If you record why you did (was it out of boredom? were you stressed? etc.) that might give clues to the types of behaviors that lead to unplanned eating.
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