Sometimes you slip on the ice. Sometimes you fall in the mud. Sometimes you slip up in the breakroom or kitchen. Sometimes you get the flu. You never just lay there on the ice or in the mud. You assess the damage, get up, and start again. That is life. Never a straight path to greatness, but a series of unexpected challenges and slips. But if we have goals, we know what direction to move in once we regain our footing. Sometimes we have to walk or take small careful steps, but as long as we are moving forward, we are making progress.
Regaining your health can be difficult. The direction is not always clear, especially when it comes to nutrition. There are so many options and promises of success with little effort. But the biggest obstacle is making the connection between what you eat and your health. Sure we know that a greasy burger and chessy nachos are not health foods, but can they really be that bad once in a while? Who can really do the math when it comes to how many times equals once in a while. Certainly, the side effects are not immediate or people would be fearful of eating them. Most of our friends will not help us to “keep count” of the times we eat poorly. The main reason of course, is that they do not want to “keep count” either.
Consider using a health score card and a health map. When you play golf there is a map of the course on the back of the score card. You follow the course and record your scores. If you play at a club your scores are even recorded over time so that you know how you are progressing. I use a Garmin watch that records my route and the statistics of my activity. I can compare week to week and year to year to see my progress as I train for various endurance events. As they say, numbers don’t lie. Your score card could be as simple as a calendar with your goals written on top of each month. You can compare week to week and month to month to track your progress. You can commit to recording the number of times you eat out or the number of visits to the junk food table at the break-room. You will be less likely to do these behaviors if you have to record them. Also, keep details of your exercise times and activities. Did you ride your bike 2 or 5 days last week? How many minutes? How often do you lift weights? Get a packet of colored pens or stickers to mark great weeks. Try to get back to back excellent weeks of nutrition and exercise. You will be able to see why your blood sugar or weight is not coming down, and you can adjust your plan. Perhaps you will track your fruit and vegetable intake. When you have that dialed in, document your portions of animal products, sweets or dairy. Make a goal to decrease the amount each week until they have been eliminated. Pretty soon the good markers will start to take over, and you will strive to make your scorecard look better each week.
Will there be slips in the ice and falls in the mud? Of course. But, the more you train, the quicker you will get up and get back on course again. If you would like help setting up your health map or goal calender, give us an email. We would love to help you get on the road to better health.
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