Planning

“One of the keys to weight management is planning, so you’re not caught eating whatever just happens to be on hand.” — Donald D. Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H.

Hi everyone, 

I’m still around! I’ve not given up, I’m just buried under all the family, school, and work obligations–like so many of us, right?

So, this post–meal planning, actually all planning, is one of my biggest problems. I think it’s also my biggest win; when I do it.

When I have time to plan out my meals and exercise, I see results. I feel better. So, if this is the case, why can’t I stick with it? For me, I think it’s time. I usually spend Sundays cooking and setting out a meal schedule for the week. Lately, I’ve been using Sundays to catch up with homework. I’m taking two classes this semester, along with all my other commitments, and some things fall through the cracks. For me, it has been meal planning and exercise. I want to do better at this. I really do. I need to find a balance, but how?

One of the things I started this year–little changes. Each week, I’m making a new change. They aren’t all weight loss related. First, I started making sure that I’m using my planner. Everynight, I check off what I’ve done for the day, write notes (like a journal), and plan the next day. Am I perfect at it? No, but I make sure that I make up whenever I miss a night. The second thing I started, every night and every morning, I wash and moisturize my face. I’m not getting any younger, and I didn’t do a great job with my skin in my twenties. I need to do better. I’m using micellar water everynight and some mornings. If I don’t use it in the morning, I’ll wash my face with Burt Bee’s Cleansing Oil. It doesn’t strip all my natural oils off, which is important for me in the mornings. I make sure that I moisturize at night with a collagen lotion, and in the mornings, I use a Loreal’s Youth Code Skin Recharger, but sadly, I learned it’s been discontinued. So, eventually, I’ll need to find something new. 

My next changes are to do some type of exercise everyday. It doesn’t matter what…it just has to be something. At this point, no time has to be associated with it. The next change will to be add the time factor. Hopefully, these small changes will be sustainable.

So, why is planning so hard? Is it the commitment? Do you have problems with this? I’d love to hear your take on planning!