D21 – Fail to Plan –> Plan to Fail

Planning is my superpower. When I plan ahead, things fall into place, I do what I’m supposed to do and I produce the result I have set out to produce. When I don’t, it all goes to hell in a hand basket. Literally.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying “Fail to plan and you plan to fail!” I’m not sure who said it, probably some time management guru like Steven Covey… however, as trite as it may seem it is SO TRUE!

I’ve got four decades of diet experience under my belt, isn’t that UNBELIEVABLE. I’ve tried it all, and many of them more than once. In experimenting most of my life with different fad diets and healthy eating styles, I keep bumping up against this reality: you have to PLAN in order to succeed.

You have to be able to look at the big picture of your week, month or year and anticipate how things might go. In response, you need to protect yourself where you are weak and set up guardrails for you to succeed. The biggest guardrails I can set up are tracking and planning. If I track EVERYTHING I eat EVERY TIME I eat, I will protect myself from overeating unconsciously… after all, it’s all about BEING AWAKE, isn’t it? Tracking helps wake me up and makes over indulging a choice, rather than a reaction. Planning (meal planning, healthy shopping lists and doing my food long one day ahead) is the road map for my success. Not only does it protect me from making spontaneous poor choices, but it also helps keep me honest. If I say I’m going to eat a cup of watermelon, I’m less likely to try to sneak in two… or just add a donut. LOL

I’m almost a quarter of the way through this 100 day journey and what I’m realizing is the first part is all about being awake and keeping myself honest… which, really, is no small task… but I’m up for the challenge!