Start Planning!

It's so easy for me, but I know it can be really hard for some people... You need to PLAN! Not only will it take some stress out of your life, but it will really help you in your weight loss if you have your weekly workouts and meals planned.

It can be as simple as you do the same workout MWF and a different one TRSat and take Sun off, or you can have a different schedule every day of the week - just make sure you're switching it up, working all parts of the body, and you're not hitting the same areas over and over.


I know, I know, meals may be a bit harder. I do my weekly grocery shop on Saturday morning so I never have to go to the store during the week. I have my list, I stay focused, and I don't let myself buy junk, EVER!

If you struggle to find healthy recipes, try cooking light, go to the library and take out some low cal cookbooks (low fat are ok, but we'll talk about that later), or check out my blog (shameless plug) but really, I have hundereds of dinner recipes that are healthy and usually pretty quick and easy! I even have a tag for weekly menus. I'll try to highlight some of them on here every now and then, and hopefully something will catch your eye! I also love Rachael Ray's Everyday magazine. She's got tons of recipes, many are healthy, and most can be lightened up easily. Keep your menu diversified, and keep lots of your favorites in, and you'll have no trouble at all! If you ever have a recipe that is too high in calories and you want me to lighten it up, I'm more than happy to give it a try! Don't forget, I do have this post, which links many of my past 'lightened up' recipes.


I know it can be tough because things come up, but when you have your plans down in writing, you generally stick with them, right? You're less likely to go grab take out or fast food when you have the ingredients to prepare a healthy, homemade dinner every night! And they say it only takes 30 days of doing something daily for it to become a habit!







One other thing I do every week is I look at weather.com's 10 day forecast. I love running outside, so I like to see what I can expect weather wise. For example, this week I'm thinking I'll run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday... and luckily it will still be nice enough for me to walk Pumpkin on Tuesday and Thursday, too! The worst thing you want to do is plan on going for a run or walk when you get home from work, and it's raining. I know the weather man isn't always right, but if there's a chance it will rain or get really cold, I make sure I bring my workout clothes with me to work so I can hit the gym if necessary. Of course, DVDs or on demand are always available, but then I have to rearrange my workout... and I'm anal and don't like to :)

Yay, Spring is here! 74.... wow!

So here's your homework for step 3 - plan out your first week on the challenge - write down your dinners and workouts for the week of March 20. If you plan ahead, you'll know if you're going out to eat so you can plan ahead, you might have events that will keep you from being able to workout one day, etc.

I'll post mine later on this week!