I've found myself struggling with getting back into a regular training routine. Granted, it's January and work is a little crazy right now, but that just means I have to better budget my time and make training more of a priority -- even when I am exhausted.
The exercise part is not most of the problem -- a day without exercise seems strange to me and when I take an unscheduled rest day, I end up clawing at the walls until I hit my next workout. The problem, as the case always seems to be, is nutrition. My eating during the holidays was actually pretty good until I got the cold from hell during Christmas week. I felt so crappy I was just like, "Screw it, let's eat EVERYTHING!" I've managed to ween myself off of most of the crappy food. But I still find myself reaching for something fatty, sweet, and comforting if I've had a rough day.
This kind of behavior is natural and, if kept to a minimum, is part of a healthy lifestyle diet (80% healthy, 20% fun). The trick is limiting the junk to just those special occasions. Each week I am getting progressively better, but I am still finding areas where I can improve. Most of that is going to just be buckling down and using some willpower. When I eat clean foods, I have so much more energy and I get more out of my training.
I'm going to make my goal this week to eat 3 healthy meals and 2 healthy snacks each day, and have 2 treat meals that I can use to replace a healthy meal if I am feeling tempted. I've found in the past that this approach is realistic and effective.
