What is your "backup plan" for days you just don't feel like it? There's some days I'm really into dieting and exercise, other days I just don't feel like it, partly because of my schedule that changes with work and that I get tired being a single mom. I'm trying not to do this "all or nothing" mentality, so I'm trying to think up "ideas" for days when I just don't feel like dieting or exercise. And there are days. My exercise/diet journal seems to help, even if I don't add up calories in fitday, at least I write down what I eat to be accountable.

Having Lean Cuisine meals around, that's better then fast food when I'm busy. Having a list of healthy stacks. I sometimes forget to eat snacks and they seem to level my blood sugar. On Sunday I made a big steak and cut it into meals so that helped last night, I heated up my own "microwave" dinner, maybe I'll try on Sundays to cook larger meals and save some for the week. When I travel for business again I'm going to get that down to a science, having food/snacks with me and a list of items on menus to eat. I still sometimes grab a hamburger but without a bun and with a salad instead of the fries if I really need to stop.

BUT exercise, what's the plan for that when you don't feel like it? Yesterday I just didn't want to, but the day before I'd exercised hard. I read about someone who if she skips a day, she does more work the next. Or if she knows she's going to be traveling she'll do double the workout the day before. I have home videos and that was my thing for a long time, I'm bored with that. I might get a bouncer and just bounce around informally here and there, a relative had one I used on vacation and it was energetic.

We are all busy, isn't that part of why we gained weight? Reaching for easy foods, junk foods, takeout, pizza deliveries, maybe slipping in some beer/wine to relax? I seem to have mood swings related to my work, I am really busy some times and not as much at other times. When I'm not as busy it's easy to obsess about exercise/diet and do it. When I'm super busy and tired, it's hard to care.

My "backup" plan is to remember how "backed up into a wall" I feel by being so over fat, how helplessly overwhelmed and stagnant I felt when I was doing nothing to help myself and many things to harm myself, such as making poor choices.

Nothing else wins when I look at what I have to gain by putting myself, my happiness with my first, versus doing anything that interferes with reaching my goals.

SoulBliss, that's great, I'm trying to "keep" that mentality this time around, letting nothing interfere with my goals. I've lost and gained before so I know ME and how I go in spurts. I'm really into my goal for Feb, to workout almost daily and really cut the calories.

I've read one backup plan is even when you "cheat" or mess up a little to not be so hard on yourself, just think "it's a new day..." But I know ME, if I cheat a little I'll start cheating a lot and I'll get off my plan. I have about 10 lbs to lose too.

I don't have an actual plan, but something that has really been helping me is tracking my calories and weight on thedailyplate.com. Every day (even when I cheat) I religiously track what I eat on the site and weight myself every morning (and enter it in the site, it gives you a cool little line graph).

It helps be be VERY conscious of what I eat, the other day I had to enter that I ate a McDonalds breakfast that was over 800 calories, and then 4 pounds of water weight the next day because of the salt. Just knowing what I am eating when I cheat (and having to be responsible for it) really helps.

I've been doing fitday.com and it's the same, a cute graph. Whenever I do this I really watch it because I can see those numbers go to **** very quickly - when I do the McDonalds thing etc. I guess I need to do it EVERY SINGLE DAY, it's when I start just jotting down what I eat in my paper journal that I get in trouble. Those online sites do seem to hold you accountable!

My plan is that I have no plan. I am tired of being the way that I am and I can't risk falling off the wagon again. When I do eat something that I probably shouldn't I have to get right back on track. I don't wait until the next day and continue cheating on the day that I messed up. I do allow myself a treat every once in a while. Maybe some frozen yogurt or a slice of regular pizza but everything is okay in moderation.

As for exercise I allow myself a day or two off during the week. Your body needs the rest. If I don't feel like exercising one day I will take it off and then exercise on my off day instead.

Thank you, it's true I've cheated then decide oh well, it's cheat day and then cheated more. I think the ONE MEAL cheat is a good idea. If you cheat QUIT after that meal/snack and get back on track that very day. I might need 1-2 days off a week, and on days when I'm really that tired, just take them off. So long as I still get in 5 days a week life will go on.

There are many days I don't feel like exercising but I just do it. I know I need to and no real questions asked. Sometimes I promise myself that I only need to do 5 minutes and I can quit after that. I've never quit after 5 minutes

I've been making myself "just do it" and it seems that if I start even a 20 min cardio dvd even when I'm tired, that I usually do two segments or jump on my bike as I like the feeling and energy - and I end up with 30+ minutes. I read in an article that can be a "trick" just get started, decide to do 5-10 minutes even and a lot of times you'll do more once you get started. The other night I thought I was too tired but made myself at 10 pm do some cardio and i did 40 minutes!

I'm with nelie. Whether I "feel like it" is beside the point. "Did I hear you say you don't feel like it?" Usually a good hard look in a full length mirror will convince me that I don't get to take the easy, lazy way out.

"Are you thin now? Is that it? Is that why you get to skip it?"

I just do it anyway, even if for only 10 minutes. I want to form the habit of exercise, not stop and go whenever...

Jay

yeah, I enter what I eat EVERY day, I've learned to live with the daily fluctuations.
My weight almost always will not go up (more than .2 lb) if I stay with in my calorie allowance and stop eating at least 2 hours before going to bed. This helps me because I do most of my damage at night, knowing I'll have to weigh myself in the morning helps me limit what I eat at night.
It also helps me not give up the second I have a "bad" meal. In the past I would have one bad meal, then go to the super market and buy some doughnuts, ice cream and come home and eat until I'm sick. I screwed up my diet, I might as well just eat. Now I only cheat with foods I can enter in on the site (I wont randomly grab a slice of pizza, I'll come home and have a hot pocket instead).
I used to unconsciously eat (and not know what I'm eating) now even when I'm cheating I have limits. The highest I've gone in a day is 2,500 (I aim for 1,600) I think I now have some sort of control in my head that really does not want to see 3,000 on any of my days.

There's a Christian author Joyce Meyers that says in a book on emotions that we can't go by our feelings - or trust them - that every day we need to keep trudging along. Feelings come and go, moods come and go and the best we can do is stick with our plan and goals. I tend to be a moody person, I get great ideas for dieting, exercise, hobbies, career changes and then I fizzle. Perhaps I need to learn to not trust my moods, and certainly not dwell on having a bad day when I'm in the middle of one, as that just makes a bad day worse. I'm a procrastinator in my work, let it pile up then work too hard. Somehow I need to find balance, and if I can get this dieting/exercising down to more of a schedule - and us moody creative people don't like schedules - then I think I'll see some long term progress in my health and other aspects of life that I need to get under control. On those "I don't want to" days when I whine, my backup is going to be "just do it" even if it's 20 min instead of my 45 min goal.

I can't say much for exercise because I'm not really doing any right now (other than walking and playing with my puppies!), but when I WAS doing consistent exercise, it was just as others have said--just do it. Whether I felt like it or not, I had to do it. Just like brushing my teeth or cleaning my house--don't always feel like doing it, but it needs to get done! I would also exercise first thing in the morning before work so I couldn't use my busy day as an excuse. I knew if I came home after work, I wouldn't leave again :P

As for food, I really do try to eat at home and bring food with me to work and such, but some days, it just gets away from me, and I find myself unprepared. I'm doing South Beach right now, so I know I can go to a restaurant if I have to and order either chicken or steak and veggies. I can also go to Wendy's and get a chicken caesar salad or a chili--those are my quick fixes when I'm in a real bind.

I've been incredibly bad with my workouts. In fact, my latest goal (as of 10 minutes ago) is to excerise everyday this week. I used to run a lot and I know that even when you don't feel like it, it feels great to do it. It's really just a battle with your mind.

As for calories, I enter everything into Diet power, and although it says can have 1900 cals/day, I stick to 1500. The only "cheat" I did was eating pizza (because I had a coupon for a FREE medium at Papa Murphy's that was going to expire) so I carefully ordered ham and mushroom, added a few of my own veggies, ate 3 slices, and put the rest in the freezer. I still came in at under 1600 for the day. Other than that, I keep Lean Cuisine, PC, and Michelinas Avantage meals in the freezer for days when I don't feel like thinking. None of them have more than 300 cals. And keep tons of veggies on hand.

I have two free floating rest days a week and I take those when I fancy them rather than having them scheduled in - that way I don't feel guilty slacking one day.
However I don't have days off healthy eating, if I feel like eating junk I go and try my size 6 jeans on and as I cannot pull them up further than my mid thighs I remember the reasons vividly why I will not eat that chocolate cake.

Boo x