Challenges

I'm remembering now that it's never that hard to take care of yourself when things are running along smoothly. The point of building healthy habits is so that you can fall back on them when things start bumping.

This next fortnight is going to be a tough one. I'm working away from home, away from my gym, my bike and my swim squad, working long hours and, instead, of staying in a nice nearby hotel with a gym and a lap pool, I'm staying with family about a twenty minute drive away. Plus, I'm staying with people who have different nutritional priorities and tastes and preferences to me, and who keep different hours. Oh- and I don't have my nice, moderately well-stocked kitchen in my nice wee apartment!

So- what am I doing to make sure I don't lose sight of everything I've built up?
First- I'm going to do my best to re-jig my workouts to fit around everyone. If I can't rise early (it wakes the whole house, and I just don't think that's fair), I'll run into work, or I'll get up a little later, catch the bus in and run from work. I'm keeping it real though, and so is my coach. If I can't find a bike or get to the pool, I'm off the hook- just this once. And if I'm just working too hard to train, he knows it's better for me to take the training down a notch than to burn out trying to do it all.

Next, I've bought a stock of semi-staples to keep me going at work. Some oats, dried apricots and almonds for breakfast. Pitas, hummus and a big bag of salad greens for lunch. Couscous, frozen veges and tuna for dinner. A box of "super berry" cereal to give me something to look forward to at snack time and make me less likely to raid the vending machine!

Also, I've got a long list of pretty healthy places I'm just dying to eat at while I'm here- the wonderful bagel shop across the park, the pik n mix salad bar down the road, the myo salad/sandwich shop in the mall and the best goddamned sushi joint I've ever frequented.

Lastly, I'm promising myself a real treat for the end of the week to help me resist the temptation to have too many mini-indulgences during the week (day 1: epic fail). I'm going to keep Tuesday to Friday chocolate free, and then boy am I going to enjoy a cupcake from the wonderful Tempt!