Okay not the guy in the photo… well, yes, him too, but that’s not what I mean by “creep” in this case.
I’m referring to the creep in your diet.
Halloween 2015
It happens to the best of us, yours truly included!
In fact, it’s something I just dealt with again recently.
My weight generally fluctuates between 168-172.
No big deal and I never sweat it.
Until I start to feel it…
Some of you might know what I mean.
Your body starts to feel different, softer, sluggish.
I hadn’t weighed myself in a while, so I stepped on, and – yep, it was well over my typical range!
It’s understandable though…
I’ve gotten more relaxed with my diet recently and my activity level has dropped dramatically, as I’ve been dealing with some serious back pain and sciatica for a while now.
It really ratcheted up in intensity about a month ago and has affected pretty much every area of my life.
The diet part is easier to fix.. which I’ll get to in a moment.
The worst part: No more pickleball!
I haven’t played in over a month and that alone is killing me!
Also, other than light PT-type exercises, no intensive lower-body workouts.
The pain has affected my motivation for upper-body workouts too…
As I’ve only been doing pushups and pullups every couple of days…
And that’s about it other than walking my dogs daily – which counts.
Thank goodness for my furry friends to keep me moving!
The lack of activity compounds the scale because I’ve likely started losing some muscle…
And muscle weighs more than fat, so the weight gain of fat is likely even more than what the scale indicates.
Anyway, I’m not mentioning the pain stuff for sympathy, please don’t.
I mention it because I know some of you deal with chronic pain as well…
For many of you, it’s much worse and for much longer than me… and my heart goes out to you because I know what it’s like.
In times like this, I find it’s more empowering to focus on what I can control.
To do what I can, when I can, and not focus on the pain or things I’m unable to do.
Diet is something under my control, so let’s talk about that!
When I notice that my diet is really slipping, my strategy is this:
MyFitnessPal
It’s a great tool.
I don’t use it regularly for myself, except in these situations.
I use it to get a handle on what and how much I’m eating.
For at least a day, I’ll log everything I eat, without changing.
I get a baseline for what I’ve been doing.
Yep – that was out of proportion, both in total calories and in macro ratios.
I’d been overeating on fat and carbs while undereating protein.
Way out of whack!
Next, I determine my goals and input my new targets to get me there.
Then, I daily log my food to get back on track.
I usually don’t need to do this for long. A few days is generally enough to recalibrate.
It’s generally not huge changes that need to be made, just minor tweaks.
Sure enough, the scale follows suit and I’m now back within my typical weight range.
I share this with those of you who have noticed this type of creep in your own life.
This is a strategy you can use too!
We go much deeper on what and how in my Healthy Lifestyle Mastery program, which will re-open for new enrollment soon.
Until then, beware of the creep…