Day 22. We are one-third done....
Three weeks have really driven a wedge between two opposing groups in The Hard Routine. In one camp, there are those who are rock-solid. They've been strict with their "rules" and sticking with their new workout programs. Many of the committed ones have seen some great body changes already! On the other side....some have stumbled and totally given up. Doesn't seem to be much middle ground here. Either you've stuck with it, or you've thrown your hands up in failure.
If you have stayed the course....Great job so far. Stick it out, and we'll party in December. If you've made it through three weeks, another 6 or so is nothing. The hardest part is over. Share some personal victories in the comments below.
If you've fallen off the horse and haven't back on....why? Did you set out with unrealistic rules? Is your impulsive behavior too stubborn to control? Were you not seeing immediate results? There are plenty of acceptable reasons to stumble...but it is so critical that you get right back up and keep going in the right direction. This isn't called The Mildly Difficult Routine. It isn't The Sorta Challenging Routine. It's called The HARD Routine. Yeah, it's hard. Real hard. That's why we're doing this campaign as a group...shared hardships and support. Revise your Personal Commitment Contracts and finish this campaign. Set out with new rules, new activities, and a new mindset to complete this. Find a partner to hold accountable....who will also hold you accountable.
PERSONAL NOTE: In our house, The Hard Routines are rock solid. I'm down 8#. My wife is down 5#. Physical activity is what it was before -- no real changes there. The big change -- We're shopping the perimeter of the grocery store...rarely going down the aisles. This is a conscious effort. Staying with fresh meats, tons of veggies and fruits, and the rarest of starches. We're eating more volume than before, and definitely more often...but of good food choices. One of the biggest challenges so far is making the effort to prepare meals. The time necessary to clean, chop, cook, and pack some of the foods (and then clean the kitchen) is considerably more than the time it takes to rip open a box or bag of pre-made foods. We're finding it much easier to prepare much more food than we'll eat, then packing it away for follow-up meals.
What do I miss? Ice cream. Big time. On the CrossFit message board, there is a thread that now has the slang "Breyers Nightly," chronicling weight loss of a guy who eats ice cream every day!
1 comment:
I will say that I believe that food PREP, as you typed, is THE hardest part of eating clean. When I make stuff, I easily go thru 3 or 4 pots/pans, lids, several tupperware containers, etc, and also pack in the fridge to parse thru as the days go by to make smaller meals to bring with. Then, like you said, you have to clean cause you have a sink full of dishes. Sometimes I will spend 4 hours from start to finish prepping and cooking and cleaning. I think you are right, eating well isn't as tough, the time to enable yourself to do so is the worst.
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