| Meal Timing Another option is to schedule your meal times and practice sticking to it 7 days a week. This isn't as easy as putting it down on paper because when you're out of the safe confines of your weekly schedule and on the irregular schedule of a weekend, hosting guests, staying with guests or traveling, there are a myriad of distractions that can make keeping your schedule a challenge.
For reference. Here's are rough family schedule for meals:
7am, breakfast 9:30am, snack 12pm, lunch 2:30pm, snack 5pm, dinner
For reference. Here's my work schedule meal times.
7:30am, breakfast 10:30am, protein shake 12:30pm, lunch 5:00pm, dinner
Your Own Habit You may have a different habit, you've been thinking about for a while now that you'd like to practice. If that's the case, then if it feels like the right time, then choose that one.
Stack the Game So You Win! Whatever habit you choose, if you choose to participate, make it so simple that you have a 9 out of 10 confidence level that you can do it everyday. If its so easy to pick up bad habits, then make it so easy to pick up good habits.
How To Make It Easy? - Attach it to something you already do (e.g. if the habit you choose is to drink more water, after you wake and go to the bathroom, follow it up with a glass of water; drink the full thing).
- Make your habit a daily goal vs. 1 meal / day, 2 meals / day, ... or every meal. Or if you have a 9 out of 10 confidence you can do it at 2 meals, ... , then choose that.
- Track it daily in your journal. On your calendar. On your workout card. In your planner. Put two jars in the kitchen near your vitamins and fill one with beans or marbles or paper clips and put 1 bean into the empty jar each time you practice your habit. It'll be a powerful visual of your progress.
- Have fun with it. It feels good to get better. If you buy into the concept that its easy to fall into bad habits, then you can buy into the concept that its easy to fall into good habits and if you can imagine dramatically, what'll happen over time if you continued the bad habit, you can just as easily imagine dramatically what'll happen if you practice the good habit.
Now choose your nutrition habit! What's it going to be? What would you like to practice during the month of October, the Halloween treat month, that you can practice each day, feel good about, not have guilt and win each day with a 9 out of 10 confidence level?
It's o.k. to course correct too as the month goes on, so if you need to refine or adjust, it's cool. Do it.
Stop when satisfied / start with less. I'm to practice stopping when satisfied, even if there's food still on my plate when eating lunch & dinner out of storage containers and starting with less on my plate when eating at home or self-serving from family style and buffet set ups.
falling into good habits,
Coach Mike
p.s. what's are you going to practice this month? |
