Preparation is Key

I haven't written anything in a few days because I have been busy with a few things.

I took the day off of work on Sunday, had some errands to run, training to do plus cooking, cleaning and laundry.

Preparation of food for the week went great, is so convenient and makes it much easier to stay on track. It took me about 2-3 hours and I cooked Chicken breast, ground chicken breast burgers, tilapia, asparagus, salads, zucchini and rice.

Training on Sunday, consisted of my burpee challenge (only push-up burpees this time) for 10 minutes. I got 67 plus I completed 10 sets of running stairs and 100 squats.

Due to the overindulgence the night before at my birthday supper, I limited my carb intake on Sunday to only veggies. Sunday night we went to Kevin’s Christmas party and had a great time, danced a bit and I managed to stay clean; other than one glass of wine.

Yesterday I was off to Calgary for work, only a day trip, but I still needed to be prepared and conscious of my diet plan. So I completed all of my prep and planning on Sunday.

It is so very important to be prepared, especially when travelling as there are not always that many healthy options on the go.

So how does one stay on track while away from home?

Prepare, pack your own, always have small, healthy snacks on hand and if you get caught with nothing always go with the healthiest options available.

So for me, on Sunday I developed a plan. How many times would I have to eat while away? What foods would I bring to stay within my allowable calories? Would I get up early enough to fit breakfast in before I left? And so on.

Here is what I did.  Being that as a general rule I eat every 2-3 hours, I knew that I would need about 3-4 small meals while away. I got up early enough to make and drink a quick protein shake, I put all my ingredients for oatmeal together the night before (you can get hot water anywhere), I pre-cut and bagged some veggies for snacks, took a protein bar and 1 piece of fruit.

Also being that I had been to Calgary before for work, I knew that there was a place nearby that I could get a quick healthy salad. We went to a salad bar where you can make your own and I just picked what I knew was in my limits, added some protein like chicken and a hardboiled egg with no dressing. This plan had me staying on track all day and I was full.

After flying back home, Kevin met me at the gym. I had pre-packed my bag the night before; we did a fabulous arm & abs workout as well as some cardio. It was a great night for beating personal bests. I got up to 195lbs on the seated triceps press down machine, I completed 3 sets of 10 unassisted triceps dips with 25lbs hanging from me and I BEAT my mile run time again; I am now up to 7 minutes, 9 seconds. Woot, Woot!

Remember when trying to reach goals and stay on track, preparation is the key, pushing yourself is also important as well as reminding yourself how great it feels to be healthy and fit.

Until next time.