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My husband is the king of the “Go with the flow,” “Roll with it,” “Let’s see where the wind takes us” mindset.
Since opposites attract, I am the queen of “That flow will sweep you out to sea and you’ll probably drown,” “Rolling will result in you hitting something and getting hurt,” and “At least tell me the speed and direction the wind is blowing so I have an idea of where I might end up.”
There’s something to be said about being up for anything, and there’s also a lot of positives for planning ahead to maximize the results of an event or activity.
Naturally, when you start to eat healthy, live healthy, BE healthy, you get both mindsets attacking/helping you in equal measures. It’s awful/awesome.
As a Planner Type, you’d think that finally working out a weekly meal plan to stay within my calorie limits is like, euphoric. So far, no, it is not. A big reason that this Lifestyle Change was kick-started was because I stumbled upon 15 low-cal and easy meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as snack ideas. Since I’m still getting used to it, and I don’t have “go-to” meals yet, planning takes quite a bit: “Hmmm, that meal sounds tasty! Ok, it involves this ingredient and that ingredient…hmmm…so maybe if I have this for dinner, I can make extra of this ingredient which is already part of the next days meal…so I save time…but oh wait. Is Jim home for dinner, or is he working late or out with friends? If he’s not home, I can eat this meal instead, because he hates it.” And so on.
And yes, I’m fully aware that I am my own worst enemy and I totally overthink and over plan. I’m probably making this meal planning thing waaaayyyy more complicated than I need to.
But, this post is supposed to be about how I’m realizing that I’m going to have to learn to be a little more flexible and patient with myself. So let’s get into it.
Last week I was all ready to go, gung-ho, “This is finally happening!” Sunday night I felt kind of strange, but I shrugged it off. By the time we were done watching Walking Dead and ready to get to bed, I was feeling really weak and cold. I crawled into bed, shivering, and hoped that sleep would come soon. It did, but only for an hour. I woke up every hour after that, feeling more and more awful. Jim woke up at one point, saw how crummy I was, and told me I was calling in sick. I protested, but finally relented. I hate calling in sick! It’s rare when I do, but I know I have to in order to get better quicker (and keep my fellow co-workers healthy, too!)
The rest of the week was basically following the meal plan I had made, except for Wednesday, when my cold had some sort of resurgence and I felt terrible by the time I got home. I made a bowl of rice, grabbed a cup of ginger ale, and curled up on the couch to watch American Horror Story: Hotel (amaaaazing!) and prayed I could get some sleep. It was also that night that our friend texted Jim to ask if she could crash on our couch over the weekend, since her plans to be in the city got switched all around. So Thursday night was me getting home ASAP to clean the apartment and await her arrival (so, I can count the cleaning as my first workout? Yeah, we’ll count that).
So, already I’ve encountered a few unplanned things, BUT on the plus side my cold resulted in soup that filled a few days with meals, and a guest required the apartment to get “Guest Clean” which is tiring but rewarding, since you don’t have to clean as much for a bit, and it gets your heart rate up!
Now, I’m certainly no expert on weight-loss, eating healthy, all that stuff. I have a fairly decent knowledge from years of diets, talking with others who are more “into” a healthy lifestyle, and reading various articles online. I knew from the outset that I was approaching this as a Lifestyle Change, NOT a diet. Yes, counting calories and following a meal plan is going to get you pretty dang far, but if you absolutely will not eat certain foods (unless for health reasons) you’re probably not going to make this change permanent.
Plus, nobody likes hanging out with “That Person” who is trying to lose weight, and entirely refuses any food they deem unhealthy. Double if “That Person” talks about their diet endlessly, and gives everyone unsolicited advice about eating healthy.
So, what has this week taught me? That while I can certainly plan ahead, I need to be accepting of changes that happen and not beat myself up if it possibly makes my Weight-Loss Adventure a little tougher. I mean, what happens when I’ve reached my goal weight, and I’m doing well maintaining, but something kind of derails me for a bit? Maybe Jim and I will win the lottery and go on a major vacation! And sometimes it’s not a vacation where you “let go” – sometimes it’s a happy/sad event, or a stressful time. Or, it could be a combo of those things – you’re moving to a new place (yay!), and heck no you’re not done unpacking the kitchen (boo!) so yeah, we’re calling the pizza delivery guy again this week (and it better be a stuffed crust with extra cheese and garlic bread and wings because you can’t find that one box of things you really need and you’re stressin’ hard, yo!).
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make sure things are perfectly in order in case all my plans fall apart, ha ha ha!
Living with Scheduled Disorder And Learning to Love It,
Jenn
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