It's all about the balance...

One week from today my family of five will be hitting the road for a trip to Wisconsin. This means a total of four days on the road with three children, four nights in a hotel, and one wedding. Can you hear the health/fitness freak in me panic?! What does this mean for someone who preps her food, eats at just about the same time every day, and works out 1.5+ hours 5 days a week? Not to mention the biggest challenge of all…WATER! My daily consumption of water requires many trips to the bathroom; my husband will surely wish bad, painful things upon me if we need to make countless stops for me to go tee-tee! This panic inside me got me thinking…what is the best way to find balance between "good" and "bad" while we are away from home? After a lot of thought, I may have found a few helpful ideas to stay on track.  

1.    DON’T panic…

I am racking my brain to come up with this grand reason for a real panic attack. We are talking about six days away from home, and a normal routine. This should be a time for fun, excitement, and making memories, not counting every calorie, macro, and H2O intake. All are equally important to me, but there are times in our lives when only a few of these should mean more than the other. That being said, when we have goals we want to achieve...good health being one of them, it's important to still be mindful of what we are putting into our bodies. It doesn't have to turn into a free-for-all leaving us feeling sick, tired, and disappointed in ourselves! 

2.    Find a balance…

Pack healthy foods and snacks for the entire family. It is not written in stone that while on the road you have eat chips, candy, donuts, and drink one soda after another!  Avoid fast food, plan ahead to find a good restaurant with healthy options.Yelp will help! To save marriage, drink a “normal” amount of water while on the road. Stop at rest areas to run around with the kids, even just for 10 minutes. Use the hotel gym, or even your hotel room to squeeze in a quick workout. Get your family and friends involved in something fun and active!

3.     Live a little….

So let’s just say on our way up to Wisconsin we take exit 53 in Oklahoma for an amazing fried pie…maybe, just maybe it is okay to eat half a slice of dark chocolate fried pie! Is it the end all-be-all if we choose to enjoy this slice of pie? No, it isn't. You can enjoy all things in moderation, as long as you don’t allow it to take over, and lose control with it.

Often times, vacations, holidays, family visits, reunions, and many other occasions come up and we automatically throw all of our healthy behaviors out the window, which then sets us back, followed by losing our motivation to ever get focused again. Or equally worse, we don’t stop to enjoy the event we are celebrating. We avoid even trying to find the balance, which usually causes some resentment if we are not careful. Either way, we are being unproductive. When you put in the time, effort, and focus to can always find a balance between both worlds.

My wish for this vacation is to just enjoy it, have fun with my family, and old friends, and not beat myself too much over doing so. I hope everyone can at least come home from vacation and not have a pile of requests and "I wish I hadn't...." facing them. It takes away from all the wonderful memories made!

Discovering the Skeltons....

A Coaches Challenge...

One month ago, our #ATEAM prepared for a 30 day "Phat Coaches Challenge." Needless to say, we were all feeling it was overdue and excited to get started. Coaches, just as other humans have our own "weaknesses" that we fight with each and every day. Some of us rely on that glass of wine at the end of a long day, or the cookies in the pantry! The list goes on and on, because everyone is different in their own way. For me, I found some skeletons hiding behind the doors of my refrigerator and pantry. What I learned about myself during these 30 days will forever change my relationship with food. The lack of awareness of my own self-destruction can no longer be ignored because I have finally surrendered. Once you open your eyes and get honest with yourself, you must own it, improve it, and count on others for the help you need. I have done my share of logging food in the past, but something was different this time around...I was honest. I was honest with myself, and my team!

You may be wondering about these little said skeletons of mine, and after many years scared to death to really face them, I have decided share them. I know for certain I am not alone. And if I am as strong as I feel on the outside, I need to be, or least strive for the same on the inside. If I am going to look my clients in the eye and insist they live a healthy lifestyle then I better not accept anything less from myself.

So here goes........ I have an eating disorder. This stems all the way back to my childhood. I was never an A student, not even close. I was teased for not being "smart" daily. As a result, somewhere deep inside, I figured out that if I'm not very smart, then I better be "pretty" and close to "perfect" on the outside. Just like anyone else, my disorder is mine, and different from others. I don't eat enough for fear my stomach will grow bigger and cheeks become fuller. In fact, the only time I ever really enjoyed and indulged in food was during my three pregnancies. For this very reason, I gained 50+ pounds with each one. I check the flatness of my stomach every single time I am in a bathroom. I change my shirt on average 3 times before I leave the house. When I have a "cheat" meal, I beat myself up inside so terribly bad that it makes me want to cry for the things I say to myself. Here is the worst part, and I mean break your heart, eye opening, get your shit together part...my 10 year old, beautiful, perfect daughter ran up to me recently with her face full of excitement and said "MOM, THE SCALE WAS AT 91 POUNDS, AND NOW ITS ONLY 88!!" I instantly welded up with tears because I am responsible for this. So it stops here, and now! I am freeing myself of all of these negative, unproductive, hurtful thoughts and actions one-by-one. Enough. Is. Enough.

I will continue to log my food everyday because I need the accountability. I recommend that everyone log their food daily, and surround yourself with people to care enough to really look at it and help you. I am incredibly thankful for the team I have, the help they have given me is immeasurable, and most of them haven't a clue what they have done for me during this past month. Of course there is a great deal of work on my part that still needs to be done, but I am confident I can do it!

Lastly, if you struggle with your own relationship with food, please talk about it. Reach out to someone you trust, begin the path to healing, so we can all live a happier and healthier life.