Ever since my birthday last week, I feel like I have been making poor food choices and then feeling extreme guilt afterwards. Of course on my actual birthday, I allowed myself a giant piece of cake at work, followed by a big ice cream sundae at night. We should all enjoy treats on our birthdays, but it started this viscous cycle that I am having trouble getting out of. Lately, I have been allowing myself one of the many sugary treats that sit out at work and then immediately feel sick, fat, and upset at myself. Instead of going to the gym to get sweaty and most likely feel better, I end up skipping my workout, eating even more at home, drinking wine, and feeling sorry for myself. Sound familiar?

I am sure we all have these unhealthy weeks where we fall of our healthy diets and workout routines. I know I tell myself most mornings that this will be the day I start eating healthy again. I then break this promise when I see the free pizza up for grabs at work. It is bikini season and I know something needs to change immediately if I want to feel good about myself. Here are five things that I plan to do to get myself out of this unhealthy cycle:

Bring my own food to work. If I bring cottage cheese or oatmeal to eat for breakfast, I most likely will not grab a bagel or pancake from the leftover breakfast in the office. I will pack salads or veggie wraps instead of eating pizza or ordering a burger and fries at work. This will require some meal planning so I will go food shopping before my work week begins. Journal with calorie counts. I do not enjoy counting calories, but when I get into a really unhealthy pattern, I feel that counting is necessary to get back on track. I will use an app on my phone such as MyFitnessPal to keep track of all the food and calories I am consuming. Plan my workouts, and stick to them. I currently plan my workout schedule on my blog every Monday. I will admit that I have not been sticking to my plans because when I eat too much, the last thing I want to do is put on tight gym clothes and exercise. I will not let food stop me from going to the gym. I will not intentionally plan happy hours with friends so that I have an excuse to skip the gym. Cut back on the alcohol. When I do not go to the gym after work, I end up going home and drinking. It is not necessary to drink wine or sangria every single night. I will go a week without it instead of letting this become a daily habit. Incorporate vegetables into every meal. I have been slacking on my vegetable intake this past week. I feel that my diet has been very high carbohydrate and low vegetable. I will make sure to eat vegetables with every single meal and cut back on the carbohydrates. For example, instead of a side of rice, I will have a side of broccoli. I will add spinach to my omelets. I will have a salad with lunch instead of a sandwich.

If you are going through a week where your diet is completely off track and you cannot get out of the rut, I highly recommend trying these five steps to turn your diet around. Most of us are very knowledgeable about how to eat healthy but just choose not to take the steps to do it. After a week of eating fried foods, drinking a lot, and not exercising, I am ready to do the work to feel great and energized again. Summer is here, so let’s make the right choices to feel healthy, happy, and good about ourselves.

Leave your Comments!

Comments