Best Laid Plans Continued
I wanted to continue my Best Laid Plans idea from yesterday. I’m not sure I got my point across as I had hoped. I get a sense that most of us have a plan and are executing on that plan. All very commendable. But what about when things go wrong. You know when you fall off the wagon. When there comes a time when you just don’t want
to follow the rules.
What do you do then?
Do you have a plan for that time?
Most of us don’t.
This is why I am talking about this.
Now is the best time to do this.
How about an analogy….may not a good one but how about like when you write your last Will. We make a list of things we want someone else to carry out for us when we are no longer here on earth.
This is the type of plan I am talking about.
A list or set of directions that YOU can follow when YOU are no longer able to keep your head clear on your healthy lifestyle.
Why not write it now. During the good times. Write yourself a letter.
Here’s what it might say….
Dear Self,
If you ever hit the wall. If you ever want to sit on the couch and eat chips all day.
When you are pissy and don’t want to talk to or see anyone.
When you are shaming yourself for all your failures.
this is what I want you to do:
1. Get off the couch.
2. Throw out all processed and junk foods in the house.
3. Drink a big glass of lemon water.
4. Pull up my pictures of the Obese ME.
5. Remember. Remember why I worked so hard to healthy.
6. Call an old friend up and ask them to remember with you.
7. Now just stop it. Snap out of it.
8. Plan your next healthy meal
9. then get out and take a walk.
Sincerely,
Your Loving Self
I’m suggesting that we take the time to write a letter to ourselves. A letter we can pull out and look at when we get in that rut. We’ve all been there before. Wouldn’t it have been good if we had a letter we could read and remember why we worked so hard to get healthy?
Take about 30 minutes and jot it down. Put it in an envelope. Put it in a place where you can find it when your tired and weak.
What do you think?
Please leave me a comment and let me know if you have a plan for when you get off track? What is that plan? Is it written down? Can you pull it out when you need it?
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Comments (16)
Dixie
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That is such a good plan! I am definitely going to do this! I currently write everything down that I eat, my protein intake, my fluids, steps, etc…this will just add to my progress and healthy life!
Thank you!
Dixie
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my tiny tank
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Hi Dixie, yeah I was thinking about how I work in my office…. How I actually have a plan for if I lose resources or some other change happens… what I will do so the project doesn’t go south! And then I thought… wait I can do that for ME and my weight loss journey. So I wrote a letter to myself. This letter is kind of like a risk management plan. When I hit a rough spot, I MUST take out the letter and read it. It will get me back on track. It will tell me exactly what I need to do! Step by Step. And the best part is. It will have been written when I was in a clear mind set. So I won’t try to go to some drastic Black and WHite approach to get back on track. I know those never work even though it ti what I want to do the minute I am “off”
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Julia
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I guess I was thinking more of an immediate plan of attack, as opposed to getting de-railed by life. And maybe at only 14 months out I’m still having trouble getting into the mindset of the rest of my life and I’m sticking so firmly to “the rules” that I can’t imagine slipping up big time. So planning at this point means the weekly cooking so there’s plenty in the freezer to chose from if I have an off day and don’t feel like cooking. I haven’t let myself think about how a big event could throw a wrench in the plans.
I think I’ll definitely sit and write a letter/plan as you suggested, because now that I’m transitioning into maintenance I probably need to consider having a back up plan in place!
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my tiny tank
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HI Julia, yes this is a back up plan. A plan that can be pulled out when you are derailed. Its YOUR fresh start plan.
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Tracy
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Wow. This really made me think! I am 8 months out and I have gone out of my way to stay on plan so far. But when I start to get hungrier and my stomach capacity increases, and time wears away all the newness of my journey, and I want to revert to comforting old habits, WHAT THEN?
I’m going to get busy on my NOTE TO SELF today!
Thanks!!!
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my tiny tank
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Hi Tracy. Good, go for it. A note to self is so helpful. I sometimes go back and read my many note to self blog posts here on my blog. They help me learn from the past. And see how I got through things.
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Cris Martin
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My plan for action is to get out of the house….I make myself leave the house (kitchen)…I go to the dollar store, thrift stores, the mall and walk…just to get away from the food. Then I am also getting some walking in…so its all good. Clears my head when I can distance myself from food and walk what ever it is away….instead of eating it away.
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my tiny tank
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Chris the GET OUT approach is so very valuable! It not only gets you away from the FOOD, but it gets you moving!!
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Carmen tucker
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Wow! What an excellant idea! I am on it!
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my tiny tank
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HI Carmen! great, I am sure it will be helpful in the future when you need to here your “healthy” self talking. thanks for commenting.
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yvonne downing
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i must say i have seem to be way off track by not taking the time out to write down everything i eat i notice i will leave things out if its a bad choice , im so going to try this
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my tiny tank
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Hi Yvonne, having a tracker whether on paper or online is soooo important! I use MyFitnessPal online. BUT if I am in a rush I just take a picture of what I ate with my smartphone and then add it to my tracker later in the day. Go for it!! Come back and let us know how it’s going. thanks for leaving a comment.
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Michelle R.
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I never thought about this before but it is a GREAT IDEA! I’m going to borrow your letter as a starting point and write a letter tomorrow, while the kiddos are at school and I can focus. I will have these printed around the house and a photo of it on my smartphone “for those times”. Thanks so much for the idea!!!
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my tiny tank
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Hi Michelle. Go for it!! I keep things on my smartphone too so that I HAVE it when I need it. thanks for your comment, so glad this was helpful to you.
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Robin
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Love this post. Thank you for sharing. We all need something like this from time to time.
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my tiny tank
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Hi Robin, yeah we need to think ahead. Do I like risk management planning. I’ve learned it helps when you NEED it. thanks for commenting!
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