Over the past 10 years, my work has required approximately 60% travel and at times it was up to 90%. When you are practically living out of a suitcase and can’t even remember what city you are in or why you are there, the LAST thing you want to do is wake up an hour earlier to hit the hotel gym. In fact, the thought of going to the gym became more and more daunting to me over the years. I fell into a rut and packed on a few extra pounds. I had completely lost my motivation to stay fit. I was eating on the run, eating what was available and eating to get energy (this usually meant too much sugar and caffeine) and on top of eating bad, I was not working out. A recipe for disaster! How did this happen to me? I asked myself all the time.
Three personal rationalizations that had my health and wellness in a downward spiral.
- I believed that I didn’t have enough time to do a good workout. So, I did not workout at all.
- I had the “what the heck syndrome” (WTHS) immediately following my first poor meal decision of the day. WTHS is the mindset that I had already blown it, already failed, so I said “what the heck” I may as well eat what I want today; the diet is already shot! Normally this was right after lunch, when I would mindlessly eat a Panera Bread cookie just trying to stay awake in that all day meeting. So, then I would go about packing in the calories and plan for point number three.
- I always put change off for tomorrow. I said I would “start eating better tomorrow” and I would. Mornings were not usually the problem for me, but by mid-morning or lunch time the WTHS would take over. This led to day after day of bad eating.
When it all boils down to it, the secret to eating better and working out is that I needed to scrap the rationalizations that held me hostage in this vicious cycle. Working out doesn’t have to take a long time. It can be as short as 20 minute a day (most of us waste that much time in a day looking in the refrigerator). And there is no such thing as “blowing it for the day” when it comes to eating. One cookie will always be better that 2 or 3 or 6! Furthermore, today is always better than tomorrow when it comes to change. Once I started correcting my thoughts, I started making much better choices and changing my body.
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. Psalm 119:2
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