Four days or five days of eating too much delicious food, sitting around, and
chocolate. So much chocolate!
Isn't Easter
chocolate tastier than the chocolates at Christmas? That's my family's vote
anyway.
The only bad
thing about Easter is that Easter Monday is also a part of Easter, and Monday
is the only day when you can start fresh, and now the week is a write off, and
now you have to wait until next week to get back on track.
NOT! No
excuses. No giving up on your goals.
Four days of
Easter is not going to ruin your goals, as long as you do a few things:
1. Remember
there is more to your health and fitness than eating a lot of nutritious foods
and exercising. Your spiritual and emotional life, rest days and relationships
are equally important to your overall health and are often neglected or
overlooked. Appreciate what Easter means to you, the memories you created,
special moments you had with loved ones, and even the extra hours of rest or
sleep you got.
2. Don’t
beat yourself up for eating something “bad” or "off plan" or too
much. So you enjoyed some treats. That doesn't make you a bad person, or mean
that you wrecked your diet and training plan. Let it go. Or if you really ate a
crazy amount, take a few minutes to analyze what you could differently next
time and then let it go. Chastising yourself won't do any good and could even
backfire.
3. Get rid
of all the leftover chocolate, candy and sweets right after the holidays.
Throw it all
away! You might think that it’s a waste but like I often say, “I would rather
waste it in the garbage than on my waist.” :P
4. Don’t
weigh yourself.
I am not a
big fan of the weight scale, but if you are, don’t get on the scale right after
Easter. There is a good chance that the numbers will make you at least a little
unhappy. You already know how you did with your diet without weighing yourself.
Instead, get back on track with eating healthy and exercising, and then weigh
yourself next Monday.
5. Don’t
skip meals or severely cut calories.
Just because
you overindulged over Easter, is no reason to skip meals or severely cut
calories to make up for it (or exercising like crazy either). Skipping meals
during the day usually leads to cravings in the evening and overeating,
Instead, focus on getting into a good routine with regular, healthy meals. Make
yourself a delicious protein smoothie, your favourite salad, overnight oats or
hard boiled eggs for the earlier part of your day instead.
6. Take some
extra time to foam roll, stretch or do some fun, relaxing exercise. Try pilates,
dancing, or play with kids if you are stiff from traveling or sitting around,
tired, or in a funk after the holidays. Be sure to do something for even 5-10
minutes even if you don't feel like exercising at all. Sometimes we need a
little nudge to get going again after a vacation or several days break from the
gym.
7. Don’t buy
the sale chocolate and candy!
You know how
the stores have all the left over Easter chocolate on sale after Easter? DON’T
BUY ANY OF IT! It isn’t a deal at all when it will cost you guilt, extra pounds
or your health.
8. Keep a
food journal.
To make sure
to keep yourself accountable with eating healthy and getting back on track
after Easter, it’s a good idea to keep a food diary on paper (or MyFitnessPal
or other food and exercise tracking app) for at least one to two weeks. When we
write down what we eat, we automatically become more mindful of portions and
each bite we put into our mouth. Sometimes I decide not to eat something simply
because it's too much effort to write it down. And no one wants to write down
that they ate two pounds of chocolate! Lol.
Whether, or
not, you slipped with your diet and exercise plan during Easter, keep going.
Remember it's getting closer to summer. Now is the time to get serious or train
a little harder so you can fully enjoy special events such as weddings, grad,
pool parties, and reunions, and the warm, active days coming up!
Happy Spring
and to Warmer Weather,
Coach Edie
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