When You’ve Fallen Off the Wagon [The Wagon Part 1]

I have to admit, I’ve fallen off the wagon this year, and tried to get back on. I got frustrated, gave up all together and then tried to recoup, all while feeling like I went too far backwards to ever get back to where I want to be.

To be honest. That isn’t a real fear to have. You can do anything you want to, including get back on the wagon. AND, what you always need to remember, is that no matter where you are in your health journey, its never too bad to go back to getting healthy. Even if it feels that way sometimes.

So let’s start by saying when I was trying to get back on the wagon I was going to extremes. I wanted to get back to the happy place I was where I had a good relationship with food and exercise. I thought the only way to get back back on track was to hold myself to the highest standard I know I am capable of, without going slowly.

You can imagine why that didn’t work.

And every time I couldn’t be uphold my perfect standard I had in my head, I kept telling myself I didn’t want it enough. Or I was being weak. And instead of going slow I pushed harder. I have gained a lot of weight. Some muscle, some unneeded fat, but all with a lot of stress added.

So I decided two weeks ago to slow down.

I’m not going to lose all the weight I want to in a few days, I’m not going to feel my tip top in a week, I am not going to push myself to the limit and get injured because I used to be able to do something.

The First Step

Two weeks ago I decided to take one step. And that step was to eat take out less or at restaurants less. I average about 5-6 meals a week out. I cut that down to about 1-2. And just that small change made a huge difference.

The Set Back

Every where but the scale.

So instead of being happy for all the good feelings I was having from eating less take out, I was focused on the fact that I didn’t lose any weight. And of course when I went on vacation I left with the who cares mentality and ate everything that was processed, even though there were better options available. I gave into the hopeless mentality over a few (not lost) pounds. And it made me realize that my feelings were tied to a number. A number that means nothing compared to my real health and fitness goals.

Maybe you’re not going through the exact same thing, but maybe you’ve fallen off the journey you started for other reasons. And have other mental road blocks holding you back from getting back to being happy and healthy. It doesn’t matter what they are, it just matters that right now you tell yourself, those things are just that…blocks. And one block at a time you are going to get over them.

Starting with My One Small Step Again

So I started again yesterday with what I knew I could do. I could cut down eating out back to 1-2 days a week. I did it for two weeks before vacation, and I know I can go back to it again. That’s the first step for me. Making that commitment. And instead of putting any expectations on it (like the scale) I decided to just focus on that. Just focus on eating in more.

What’s Your First Step?

What’s your first commitment going to be? Make sure it’s a small achievable step that you know you can be proud of yourself for accomplishing. And it you don’t master it in one week, that ok, start again.

I’m going to break this down as I go into a series so you can follow my journey. And you can start your own!

Step 1: Set a small achievable goal – eating out only 1 time a week (taking it one week at a time)

For more meal ideas and real health tips join us on Instagram: love.lean.life