The Plan

Alright folks, the new schedule for getting back on track starts in 5, 4, 3, 2...now. Since it's been about 7 weeks of general chaos, I need to put myself back on a pretty tight schedule to get back into the swing of things. For starters, that means I need to wake up at 5:45am every day of the week. Trust me on this one, regardless of your own wake up time, your body likes predictability and sleeping in on the weekends just makes trying to wake up early on Mondays that much more painful.

To make this transition to a regular wake up time easier, I lay out my workout clothes (or pack my gym back) the night before. That way, there isn't any thinking involved where I scarcely have two functioning brain cells to knock together. I won't need to do this in a month, but now, it helps keep me on track. Of course, the hardest part is just doing it without fail. In other words, NO EXCUSES. It doesn't matter if I slept like poo or if Parker had a fever or if I just wanted more sleep. This is key. Regardless of what transpired the night before, the second that the alarm goes off, get those feet on the floor and spring into action...or drag yourself on all fours to the bathroom. Whatever your morning state of affairs, just do it! (You so knew that was coming.)

Okay, so now I need a workout schedule. Hmmm, I think that this will do for getting me off on the right foot:

Monday - Jillian 30-Day Shred and Med Ball 400

Tuesday - Run 4-5 miles, tempo

Wednesday - Swim 1 mile

Thursday - Jillian 30-Day Shred and Med Ball 400

Friday - Run 3 miles, intervals; swim 1 mile

Saturday - Outdoor bike ride

Sunday - long run (7+ miles)

Straight-forward, familiar, manageable. That sounds about right. Now that we've got sleep patterns and the workout schedule under control, let's get a menu planned, shall we? For breakfast and lunch, I usually just give myself a list of options to pull from since I don't mind repeating those meals. (And of course, all of these recipes/items can be found under the recipe section of this blog on the right-hand side of the page.)

Breakfast:

1. Yogurt with honey, granola and fresh berries

2. Spinach or veggie omelet

3. Oatmeal with raisins and walnuts

Lunch:

1. Tuna sandwich

2. Three-bean salad

3. Black-eyed pea salad

4. Shrimp, Lettuce, Tomato sandwich

5. Egg salad sandwich

Dinner:

1. Salmon with mustard-dill sauce

2. Shrimp salad (using the rest of the mustard-dill sauce as dressing)

3. Black beans and rice

4. Pasta fagioli

5. Lentil soup

Sides:

1. Spanakorizo

2. Steamed broccoli

3. Roasted asparagus

4. roasted Brussels sprouts

5. Baked potato

Whew! Now I feel much better about the coming week. For me, it's all about having a plan of action in place and the knowledge that come this time next week, I'll have one solid week of eating well and feeling good under my belt. By week 4, I'll have completely forgotten that I ever had this sloth-like episode of doom and despair.

Don't ever forget that replacing bad habits with good ones simply requires making a better choice one day and one meal at a time.