So I’ve been thrown a bit off-kilter this last week by some crappy personal stuff I’ve got going on – I know it’ll resolve itself one way or the other but it’s brought into focus just how easy it is for the sort of stuff that comes at you from left field to knock you off the rails you know? I clung on for dear life – you guys saw my mid-week wobble – but if I’m being completely honest I didn’t help the situation by a severe case last weekend of can’t-be-arsed-itus.

Preparation and Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. For those of you who’ve been on any kind of training course, ever, you’ll probably recognise all the P’s…grudgingly, despite the size of the cliche, the sentiment behind them is right. Last weekend, the last thing I felt like doing was schlepping around the supermarket doing the weekly shop. So I didn’t, I rebelled. With my own small gesture of anarchy, I spent all my weekend doing no chores whatsoever, and made it all about me. 

I did a bit of reading. Teed some ideas up for last week’s blog posts and did a bit of writing. Watched a couple of movies…spent some time with my mum, had dinner with a friend and took my boy out for Sunday lunch. But I didn’t stock up the cupboards…a decision which by Monday, struck me as being just to the left of stupid. I work miles from where I live, therefore a full day at work sandwiched between an hour’s drive either side means that by the time I get home after putting in a twelve hour day, shopping for food isn’t really top of any list I’d pull together of appealing options.

So my meals this week have been a weird combination  of stuff cobbled together from the freezer, lunches bought daily instead of being prepared at home, and takeaways. I managed to stay within points – just – Weight Watchers helpfully produce an ‘eating out’ book which you can use to inform your ‘prepared by other people’ choices although it’s only ever an estimate. As a result, the only pounds I’ve lost this week have been ones from my wallet. Dumbass.

On a positive note, the importance of preparation being the thing that gives me the best possible fighting chance of staying on track is once again front and centre of my mind. It creates the right conditions. It’s easier to eat within a food plan if you have the right kind of stuff to hand rather than looking hopefully into the back of the cupboard only to find all those things which were bought on impulse, have been ignored for months or that don’t really go with anything else you have in the house. And by the way, on the off-chance that you ever find yourself in the same situation, and a kidney bean omelette seems like a good idea, I’m here to tell you it’s not. Even liberally sprinkled with cayenne pepper…I’d rather chew my own feet.

So it’s chore city here at Skinny Towers this weekend but you know what, a sharp reminder from time to time isn’t a bad thing. The difference is these days, lack of preparation is an occasional blip…as a fully paid up resident of Mooseville, it was a way of life. Cleaning up your act is about more than what you eat, right? It’s about choosing your attitude, choosing your approach, choosing your outcome. The minute you opt out and stop making those choices, you risk the wheels coming off.

It could have been a perfect storm this week, but it passed. This week I’m all over it. It’ll be another tough week amongst the shit-storm but in terms of the food plan I’ll create perfect conditions up ahead of time, and it’ll be easier to dodge the showers 🙂

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