Eating plan gets messed up
 

So being 40 something losing weight seems to have gotten harder to do. I write/type what im going to eat daily but there are a lot of days where life happens and the menu goes out the door especially if I plan on cooking then im gone all day and so on.

How does anyone handle situations like this when life messes up your eating plan??:(

I plan ahead and cook extra on the weekends so I always have healthy food available. Life will always happen, we do have control over how we react. I do not let it become a reason to eat fast food or other poor choices. If I absolutely must eat out, I get a salad with chicken breast and dip my fork in the dressing, not pour it on. In a real pinch, a small chili and baked potato without butter or sour cream (I put some of the chili on it) could work.

Quilter in VA is absolutely right. It's all about the planning. Make contingency plans for the days things go out of control. Failing to do so will result in bad choices.

When I started my new eating plan, I promised myself for 3 months that I would eat totally on plan. No matter what happened in my life, I had to eat what was scheduled in my planner and not stray from it at all. Adding coffee, tea, etc. was ok as it didn't impact my calories but all food items were non-negotiable. And that means I can still see my friends for coffee, etc. I also have "safe" foods with me at all times in my purse, such as a protein bar or veggies, etc. There is NO excuse for me to go off plan.

6 months later, I am still on plan. I haven't eaten in a restaurant or at anyone's house since then, unless I ate my own prepared food that I had with me.

I know this doesn't seem possible AT ALL. But you know what? Only 1 day back into my old routines would totally wreck anything that I had accomplished. Eating a cookie or soup not on plan would automatically make me think I should just have Chinese food for dinner and start over tomorrow. And then tomorrow would never be back on plan, I know this in my heart (or should I say gut?).

So now, my plan is "just 3 more months on plan" to see how much I can lose for the spring weather to get here (and buy some new outfits!). Who knows, maybe then I'll see how far I can go for the summer months.

Once I got into my groove, it really became easy and a challenge to stay loyal to myself. Plus I got addicted to the scale going down every week.

Good luck with whatever you do!

Life always happens, so you have to plan for it. I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a couple of tricks up my sleeve if meals go awry. THere are always eggs in the fridge. There's always protein bars (low carb ones). There's always chocolate whey powder and yogurt and frozen fruit and veggies and there's always peanut butter (or almond butter) and always apples in the house - at all time - ALWAYS. These are my go to foods for when I'm too rushed to make something or too tired, or the pizza meal the rest of the family is eating just doesn't fit into my plan.

I also do a lot of cooking on weekends to make it easier during the week.I make yogurt on the weekends, (I make a gallon at a time), I cook a big meal. I wash up salad stuff. I might make a HUGE kale salad (which can keep in the fridge for like a week!), and so on. But it's all about keeping things stocked and PLANNING.