So there are two new hoodlums in my life.
My wife and I have adopted two rescue dogs. They are rambunctious young men who are high on energy and short on manners.
We’ve got our work cut out for us.
So for the last few months, my historically rock-solid routine has been thrown for a loop.
- Lack of sleep from restless, bark-filled nights.
- Extra trips home during the day to check in on the fellas.
- Extra dog training lessons and vet trips need more time and money than I used to put out.
You know exactly what I’m talking about if you’ve got pets. Or children. Or a job….
Under these hectic circumstances, it’s so easy to let our self-care take a back seat.
To skip workouts. To stop meal prepping and eat more take-out.
To essentially put off everything I coach people to do, because things are nuts for a bit and I can put off important habits for sometime in the future.
Until sometime when things get less busy and hectic.
(Those of you who have been these posts for awhile hopefully just rolled your eyes at me!)
Waiting because you’re stressed
I want to tell myself the things that I tell my clients and readers never to do:
Put off healthy habits until “things calm down.”
Like the “Future Us” will somehow have fewer obligations and life challenges, and more time and stress managements skills.
THAT IS A LIE that we tell ourselves when we’re tired and overwhelmed.
We want the lie because it’s easy.
We fool ourselves into believing that it takes so much energy and focus to schedule food and exercise. That “I just need a break until life gets less hectic.”
Here are the two realities, my friends:
- CHAOS is the preferred state of nature, not order. The only constant in life is change and disruption. Life will never get less busy, and we will always have surprises and challenges. We just have to get better at managing them.
- It takes literally 1 OR 2 MINUTES to plan our food and exercise for the day.
So we have two options:
- Complain about how busy and overwhelmed we are, and fall back into reactive habits. Give up on everything.
- Take the two minutes to put some structure around the chaos.
I’m taking Option 2!
LOSING WEIGHT WHEN STRESSED IS A DIAL, NOT A SWITCH:
You’ll drive yourself crazy if you keep switching healthy habits “On” and “Off”.
Adjust your dial instead. Stay within the guard rails. Dial down a bit when you have to, dial it up when you can.
But never switch Off! Switching On and Off is how you create a life of yo-yo dieting and miserable frustration. Please stop doing that to yourself!
We’re all in this together.
Your friend and Coach,
Dan
If you’re DONE waiting to lose weight, check out the No More Diets program.