Planning + Preparation = Progress

When it comes to food & exercise, planning ahead will help achieve your health and wellness goals. What will you eat this week? When, where? What days and times will you exercise? If you leave it to last minute circumstances, you set yourself up to fail. Here are some tips to make the “3 P’s” a success:

Planning

• Every Sunday, schedule the days and times you are going to exercise for the week and stick to it! This is “your” time and each daily decision leads to progress.
• Take an exercise class. Time based appointments keep you on a schedule.
• Exercise with a friend – schedule a walk/jog together.
• On Saturday or Sunday, plan your meals for the week, including breakfast, lunch and dinner. This will help you create your grocery list too.
• Create a computerized grocery list with your staple items and keep it in a place you can easily add items.
• Grocery shop 2x/week to stay stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables. Plan which days ahead of time.
• Shop for healthy “convenient” foods – pre-washed romaine/spinach, almonds, crumbled cheeses, apples, string cheese, grapes, walnuts, natural peanut or almond butter, avocados, roasted chicken, hummus, carrots, snap peas, chicken or veggie breakfast sausages, greek yogurt, cottage cheese. Click here to see Andrea’s list of healthy food suggestions.

Preparation

• If you plan to exercise in the morning, lay out your workout clothes the night before.
• If weather intervenes, have a backup plan. Go to the gym! (pay the guest fee if you’re not a member)
• When traveling, find out if your hotel has a gym, pool or ask where you can run outside.
• Rid yourself of all or nothing thinking – even if you tell yourself you have “no time,” recognize something is better than nothing. Try my 10-minute workout routine.
• Take a 32 oz. water bottle with you every time you leave the house.
• Each day, pack snacks for your bag/briefcase (apples, almonds, string cheese are easy!)
• Take lunch to work – have the fixings in your frig that allow you to make a quick salad (lean proteins, romaine, crumbled cheese, walnuts, avocado)
• At dinner, cook/grill extra proteins and veggies so you have leftovers for lunch

Progress

• Acknowledge each day what you DID do well (it’s easy to forgot and overlook our small steps)
• Don’t throw in the towel if you have a bad food day or a non exercise day. Reset and get yourself to the gym the next day or to the store to have the food you need.
• Set specific goals to have measurable progress (i.e., eat 2-3 servings of vegetables/day, limit sweets to 2x/week, pack snacks daily, exercise 30 minutes 5x/week
• Share your goals with a friend; ask them to check in with you to see how you are doing
• Hire a Life & Wellness Coach to keep you on track. It really works! : )

If you’re wondering if coaching is for you, try a complementary 30-minute coaching session and see for yourself. I can help you design a plan, be prepared and be successful!
847-971-3643 / andrea@hgcoaching.com