Week 3 of a Plan to Stay Healthy During the Holidays

Catching up on the Blitz

If you are just joining me for this Blog Series, this is about making a healthy plan to tackle Thanksgiving and the other Holidays. The idea being to end the year on a high note, and not gain pounds and inches on your waist from October through January. My previous blog post includes my goals, an outline of my plan, and week 1 summary. Please take a look at my week 1/introduction post if you have not had a chance. Week 2 will give you a summary of how it has been going so far.

My Plan for Thanksgiving Week

My theory I am testing with this blog series is that no one day of indulgence will derail your Health and Wellbeing, as long as you are (mostly) dialed in on your nutrition and exercise routine day to day, week to week. Why the Holidays tend to be an issue is the tendency to let indulgence creep into weekends, weekdays, office parties, day after Holidays etc.

*Standard disclaimer, this is my plan and I am using it as an example, this is not intended as a program for others to adopt. If you are interested in making your own plan, take a look at the link above to my intro post to get some ideas.

In addition to keeping my nutrition and exercise routine on point this week, I also made some very specific strategies to help keep me motivated and be training at peak intensity for the big day. Here is a reminder of the plan I outlined from my week 2 post:

• Continue nutrition (and exercise) plan through Wednesday, including my intermittent fasting (1 meal a day).
• Longer period of fasting Wednesday going into Thursday, eat my one larger meal earlier in the day on Wednesday.
• Morning Exercise Thursday, with slightly higher volume (weight training).
• Breaking my fast with a small plate of food before the big meal Thursday. This is a strategy to help not over stuff yourself after a longer fast.
• Morning exercise Friday, cardio.
• Longer period of fasting from Thursday going in to Friday.

Tips of the Week

1. On the Holiday, Eat what you like! What I mean by this is when you are deciding to enjoy a Holiday, or any particular meal, eat the foods you really like. You have already decided that it is ok to indulge a little bit and have some treats, but there is really no need to add foods to your plate that you consider to be just “ok”. For example, if you love Turkey and Mashed Potatoes, but can’t stand green bean casserole, skip the casserole! Do not worry about counting calories on the Holiday, but do consider that eating foods you don’t really love fills you up unnecessarily, and takes away from the enjoyment of the day. Another example of this is eating things simply because they are there, like appetizers. Apply the same logic, if you really like the appetizer being served have it, if you don’t, skip it!
2. Exercise the Day After. No matter how you feel the day after a Holiday, get up and do something. Even if it is as basic as a walk, getting up and exercise the day after helps renew your commitment to health and wellness.

Challenges this Week

The biggest challenge this week was resisting the temptation to creep back into previous holiday habits, basically to treat this entire week like it is Thanksgiving day. The way I addressed this challenge was following one of my tips from last week, stick to the plan! I reviewed my exercise and nutrition plan for the week each day, reminded myself why I made it, and why it is important.

Daily Journals

Sunday

Exercise: Steps at work, around 5 miles total.

Food and Drink

Morning: Coffee and water.

Around 8 am: Bulletproof Coffee.

During work day: 2 green teas 🍵, plenty of water.

Around 5:30 pm: Bacon cheeseburger salad with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions (takeout); IPA beer, 2 glasses scotch.

Monday

Exercise: Nordic Track, 40 minutes, 2.44 miles.

Food and Drink:

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: black coffee.

During work day: 2 green teas 🍵, plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: Chipotle Coleslaw with shredded cheese and greens powder; 1 can sardines in olive oil; 1 humus and pretzels; 3 spoons mixed nut butter.

Tuesday

Exercise: before work, weight training. Pull up 7,7,6,6,5; Dip 9,8,8,7,5; Push up 11,10,8,7,6; Total Gym row 12,12,12,12; Ab wheel roll 10,10,10,10, 10; Kettlebell Swing 53 lbs 12,12,12,12,12

For the above exercises, what I did is go through each exercise in the order listed, with very little rest in between each exercise, and then take a few minutes rest after Kettlebell swings before starting with Pull up again.

*I added total volume, and a whole extra set of all exercises compared to week 2! Feeling great and energized heading in to Thursday.

Food and Drink:

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: Bulletproof coffee (see week 1 for recipe).

During work day: 2 green teas 🍵, plenty of water.

Around 3 pm: 2 oz. spicy beef jerky (no sugar, have to watch out for that unfortunately).

Around 4:30 pm: Chipotle Coleslaw with shredded cheese and greens powder; 1 can of sardines.

Wednesday

Exercise: Nordic Track, 60 minutes, 3.85 miles.

Food and Drink

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 6:30 am: Green tea.

Around 9 am: Black coffee.

Around 12:30 pm: Side salad 🥗 with greens powder, 3 chicken tenders, a meatball, blue cheese dressing; 2 piece chicken parm pizza (skip crust).

Fast starting at 12:30 pm, water and tea only after meal (20 hours total fast)

Thursday

Exercise: Deadlift 205- 3, 5, 225- 3,3,3,3,3,3; Double Kettlebell push press 35s- 10, 44s- 8,9,9,8,8,7; Hanging leg raise 10,10,10,10,10,10

The goal today was as much volume as possible within 1 hour, so I chose sets of 3 Deadlift, 10 leg raise, and close to max reps with 44 lbs double kettlebell push press. Felt great, hope your Turkey Day workout was great if you did one!

Food and Drink

EVERYTHING! Gobble Gobble!

Friday

Exercise: Nordic Track, 60 minutes, 3.60 miles

Food and Drink

Morning: Coffee and water.

Around 9 am: Black coffee.

Around 10 am: Green tea.

Around 11:30 am: 2 slices cheddar cheese, 4 slices ham.

Around 1:30 pm: 2 Slices Homemade pizza with pepperoni, pepper, and onion.

Around 6 pm: Potato Chips appetizer; chicken with mushrooms/ cream sauce, cooked spinach, asparagus, 2 potato croquettes.

Throughout evening: 4 scotches

Saturday

Exercise: Active rest, swimming with my kid.

Food and Drink TBA for posting purposes.

Favorite Meal of the Week

My Weekly Progress Report

1. Sugar, Grain, and Alcohol were treats only, especially Thursday 😉 I had a few more drinks this week than previous weeks, but significantly fewer than previous Thanksgiving weeks.
2. Weight was 197.0 lbs on Friday (up less than 1 pound from last week), and 5th belt loop on Tuesday (work clothes are needed for consistency). I was honestly surprised that weight was not higher Friday morning after Thanksgiving, even after doing an hour of cardio. This is a good early indicator that my theory is correct, no one day can derail you, consistency is your friend around the holidays.
3. I maintained my frequency of Cardio exercise, and added some time to Nordic Track this week.
4. I maintained my routine and volume of my goal upper body exercises, and even added some this week!
5. I wore blue light glasses every light at least 1 hour before bed, and logged 2 nights of 7 hours uninterrupted sleep during the week. Overall, I kept a routine bed time of around 9 pm.

Next Week

Next week is a big week in testing my theory that no one day can derail your health and fitness goals, as long as you stick to the plan. Part of that plan means getting back on track with my nutrition routine, and keeping the exercise momentum from this week. I will include final before and after stats in my post next week, and also a preview of part II of my Holiday plan. The Thanksgiving Blitz served it’s purpose and got us to December, but now it is the home stretch!

Week 2 of A Healthy Plan to Tackle Thanksgiving

Catching Up on the Blitz

If you are just joining me for this Blog Series, this is about making a healthy plan to tackle Thanksgiving and the other Holidays. The idea being to end the year on a high note, and not gain pounds and inches on your waist from October through January. My previous blog post includes my goals, an outline of my plan, and week 1 summary. Please take a look at my week 1/introduction post if you have not had a chance.

Tips of the Week

1. Keep in mind when you are trying to peak for training. This is in particular of you are have exercise goals as part of your Holiday plan. I am trying to have my highest volume week Thanksgiving week, so I am revving my metabolism for the big day. This week, I felt like I had 2 great days of weight training with more volume than last week, but I did not push the limit. Typically, if you go for a PR (personal record) or otherwise smoke your body with a workout, you are going to need to take a step back the next day, or next week to recover. Since I want my peak intensity to be Thanksgiving week, I left a little bit of energy in the tank this week.
2. Be kind to yourself. Even if you do not set the world on fire related to your goals and program, celebrate your wins and be kind to yourself. If you are trying to cut out soda and you drink a soda 1 day out of 7 during the week, celebrate the win! Sure, maybe you want that to be 0, and you can make a plan to work towards 0, but celebrate your win first!
3. Stick to your plan. You made a plan to be healthy during the holidays, make sure you stick with it! No late night snacks on Tuesday, no drinks and delivery Pizza on Wednesday (for example). If your plan is to dial in your nutrition every day except Thanksgiving, stick to your plan!
4. Exercise on the Holiday! Even if you are going to have your favorite treats on the Holiday, make it a point to move and exercise. Do something that is fun and meaningful for you; walk, run, push up, pull up, lift weights. Make exercise and movement part of your celebration, you will feel great, and rev up that metabolism before your big day!

Challenges this Week

A challenge for me, which can be typical around the holidays, was busy times at work. Work was mentally demanding, and also required extra time this week. The demands at work made it especially critical to adhere to my plan and routine, because there could have been a lot of tempting excuses to sleep in and miss a workout.

Daily Journals

Sunday

Exercise: Mowing and yard work, 1 hour.

Food and Drink:

Morning: Coffee and water.

Around 8 am: Bulletproof Coffee.

Around 1:30 pm: 1 serving humus and pretzels.

Between 3-5 pm: 3 IPA beers (helps yard work 😉

Around 5:30: Chicken taco bowl with sautéed pepper and onions, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, taco sauce (homemade and favored with orange, garlic, and Chipotle peppers) with a little bit of rice…I also had a refill on everything but the rice.

Monday

Exercise: Walking before work, around 50 minutes, 2.5 miles.

Food and Drink:

Morning: Black coffee ☕, water.

Around 7:30 am: Black coffee.

During the day: 2 Green teas, plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: Bowl of coleslaw with cheese cubes and greens powder; 10 olives with 8 cheese cubes; 1 can herring with sriracha sauce.

Tuesday

Exercise: before work, weight training. Pull up 6,6,6,6; Dip 8,8,7,6; Push up 10,10,8,7; Total Gym row 12,12,12,10; Ab wheel roll 10,10,10,10; Kettlebell Swing 53 lbs 10,10,10,10

For the above exercises, what I did is go through each exercise in the order listed, with very little rest in between each exercise, and then take a few minutes rest after Kettlebell swings before starting with Pull up again.

*Managed to add a little bit of volume by way of reps in a few areas, but I also left room for improvement for the big week next week!

Food and Drink:

Morning: Black coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: Bulletproof coffee (see previous post for recipe)

During the work day, 2 green teas  (unsweetened), plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: Coleslaw with greens powder and an avocado; 1 cup kale chips; 1 humus and pretzels; 6 olives.

Wednesday

Exercise: Nordic Track Ski machine, 47 minutes, 3.07 miles.

*The Nordic Track is my way of maintaining my frequency of cardio, which is one of my goals. I’m not dedicated enough to run outside when it is 20 degrees, so I need an alternative for cardio.

Food and Drink:

Morning: Black coffee ☕, water.

Around 7:30 am: Black coffee.

During the work day, 2 green teas  (unsweetened), plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: Coleslaw with greens powder and an avocado; 1 cup kale chips; 1 humus and pretzels; 6 olives.

Thursday

Exercise: Deadlift 205- 5, 5, 225- 5, 4; Kettlebell push press 35s- 10, 44s- 8, 8, 7, 7; Hanging leg raise 10,10,10,10, 8

Food and Drink:

Morning: Black coffee and water.

Around 7:30 am: Bulletproof Coffee.

During the work day, 2 green teas  (unsweetened), plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: 4 Spoons of 10% Milkfat Greek Yogurt; bowl of coleslaw with greens powder and avocado; can of sardines; 8 olives.

Friday

Exercise: before work, 2.5 mile walk, around 50 minutes.

Food and Drink

Morning: Black coffee and water.

Around 7:30 am: Black coffee.

During the work day, 2 green teas  (unsweetened), plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: 3 spoons mixed nut butter; mixed bowl with avocado, chickpeas, cheddar cheese, greens powder, olives, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Evening: 1 glass red wine, 1 glass scotch.

Saturday

Morning: Black coffee and water.

The rest of Saturday is TBA due to posting, but will include a family meal with a Beef roast, and probably a few drinks.

Favorite Meal of the Week

My Weekly Progress Report

1. Sugar, Grain, and Alcohol were treats only.
2. Weight on Friday, 196.4! and 5th belt loop. Weight is an improvement, and sets me up well going in to next week.
3. I maintained my frequency of Cardio exercise, I am starting to transition indoors and use my Nordic Track…I do not run outside under 40 degrees, sorry, not sorry.
4. I maintained my routine and volume of my goal upper body exercises. I added a small amount of volume to both weight lifting days, and I feel like I can push for a big week Thanksgiving week.
5. I wore blue light glasses every light at least 1 hour before bed, and logged 2 nights of 7 hours uninterrupted sleep during the week. I did stay up later Friday night, but overall kept a routine bed time of around 9 pm.

Looking Ahead to Next Week

This is the big week! I need to focus and make a fitness and meal plan that is dialed in leading up to Thursday. Here is what I am planning:

• Continue nutrition plan through Wednesday.
• Longer period of fasting Wednesday going into Thursday, eat my one larger meal earlier in the day on Wednesday.
• Morning Exercise Thursday, with slightly higher volume (weight training).
• Breaking my fast with a small plate of food before the big meal Thursday. This is a strategy to help not over stuff yourself after a longer fast.
• Morning exercise Friday, cardio.
• Longer period of fasting from Thursday going in to Friday.

I plan to completely enjoy myself on Thursday, so I will not log my specific food and drink items. I will log my exercise and fasting periods and let you know how that seems to go.

Home stretch everyone, lets go!!!

Applying a Healthy Eating and Fitness Plan to Tackle Thanksgiving

Why the Thanksgiving Blitz?

Blitz is a Football term, this is when the defense sends extra pass rushers after the opposing team’s Quarterback. I chose this term because there is Football on Thanksgiving, and it is part of my strategy this year; I am going to get Thanksgiving this year, it is not going to get me!

Make a Plan

I recently created a blog post all about using planning and preparation to enjoy the Holidays, but not letting them derail your health and well-being. If you haven’t had a chance, please take a look and think about making your own plan!

Tips on Getting Started

1. Make this winnable! I am using my plan as an example, not as a template for you. You may look at my routine and goals, and think “no way am I doing that, way too intense!” You also may look at my exercise routine and think “Dom, those lifts are weak sauce, need more  intensity!” Start with where you are, make goals to get better, execute your specific goals and plan so you can win.
2. Write it down! You have to write down your goals, and write down your progress towards them. If you do not track goals and progress, you won’t have a sense of direction or accomplishment, and most likely lack motivation. You cannot hit a target that you cannot see.
3. Make time! You need to make time in your week to grocery shop, meal plan, meal prep, and exercise. Add this to your calendar like you do a work appointment, or it will not happen.

If you don’t have time to make your health a priority, take a look at this video…Arnold and Linda will terminate your excuses!

My Plan

My plan is to focus on maintaining my frequency and intensity of exercise through the Holiday season, and to not gain weight or belt loop holes in between November-January. My Thanksgiving plan will be a good test and give me a progress report at the mid-point of the season.

My Specific Goals

I made myself some specific, measurable, realistic goals to hold myself accountable.

1. Make sure that added Sugar, Grain, and Alcohol stay in the treat category (once per week max), focus on whole, unprocessed food being dietary staples.
2. Keep weight on the scale, and belt loop the same, or improve them (I don’t want to have to loosen my belt on January 1, compared to November).
3. Assure that my weekly frequency of cardio exercise stays the same, even when the weather gets colder.
4. Add volume (reps and sets) to my upper body, body weight exercise routine of Pull Ups, Dips, and Push Ups.
5. Assure to wear blue light glasses before bed each night, consistent bed time, strive for 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

The plan will also include a weekly check in on these major goals, to see how I am doing, and any adjustments I may have to make to stay on track.

The Thanksgiving Blitz–Time Frame

This blog post is documenting the time period of November 9-December 5, 2020. My plan is to assure complete focus on Health and Well-being leading up to, and immediately after the Thanksgiving holiday. In my previous blog post, I outline the importance of enjoying the Holidays themselves, and also immediately getting back on your healthy plan. No one day is going to disrupt your health and fitness routine and progress, but developing unhealthy patterns day after day, week after week will. Make a plan!

I am committed to a post each week, to serve as an example of how you could make a plan, and also to help hold myself accountable. Let’s see how I did week 1!

Before Stats

Weight: 201.6 lbs

(Of note, if you have followed my previous blog posts, weight is up a bit from my post Keto blog post. I did allow some questionable habits to creep in on a recent week off from work, what a great opportunity to get back on track!)

Photo:

Belt Loop: 4th (4th is ok, 5th is better, 3rd is not good…higher belt loops=lower waist circumference)

Cardio Frequency: At least 2 walks (or equivalent) at least 1 jog (or equivalent) per week. Best run of a 4.9 mile loop, 48:30.

Best Body Weight Set: Pull ups 6,6,6,6; Dips 4,5,6,6; Push Ups 7,8,8,7 (done as a circuit, 1 exercise after the other)

Week 1 Daily Journal

Monday

Exercise: before work, 2.5 mile walk, around 50 minutes.

Bonus exercise, around 3.5 miles walked at work.

Food and Drink:

Morning: Black coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: Black coffee.

During the work day, 2 green teas 🍵 (unsweetened), plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: about 3 oz roast pork; bowl of coleslaw with greens powder added, coleslaw made with cabbage slaw mix, cheddar cheese, and dressed with avocado mayo, salt, pepper; around 2 oz canned chicken with sriracha sauce; 2 spoons mixed nut butter.

Tuesday

Exercise: before work, weight training. Pull up 6,6,6,6; Dip 5,7,8,7; Push up 8,10,9,9; Total Gym row 12,12,12,10; Ab wheel roll 10,10,10,10; Kettlebell Swing 53 lbs 10,10,10,10

For the above exercises, what I did is go through each exercise in the order listed, with very little rest in between each exercise, and then take a few minutes rest after Kettlebell swings before starting with Pull up again.

Food and Drink:

Morning: Black coffee ☕, water.

Around 7:30 am: Bulletproof coffee

There are many ways to make this coffee, the basic concept is butter and MCT (medium chain triglyceride) oil in coffee. Coconut oil is a source of MCT, so I used one spoon of that, one spoon grass fed butter and a little sea salt, use milk frother to combine. A word of caution, if you don’t use the milk frother or a blender, you get an oil slick on top of your coffee.

The drink pictured contains 0 sugar, 0 carb, and around 230 calories if you are counting, which is significantly less than most latte/ cappuccino drinks. I discovered these drinks as part of my Keto plan, and find they help me with sustained energy and extending a fast.

During the work day, 2 green teas 🍵 (unsweetened), plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: Around 3oz today roast pork; bowl of Coleslaw and greens powder; 2 spoons mixed nut butter; 1 can herring with sriracha sauce.

Wednesday

Exercise: 4.9 mile run, 47:50, no walk breaks.

Food and Drink

Morning: Black coffee and water.

Around 8:30: Green tea.

Around 11 am: Bulletproof Coffee.

Around 3 pm: 3 spoons of mixed nut butter.

Around 5 pm: 3 spoons mixed nut butter with 2 spoons coconut oil.

*A Keto kind of day!

Thursday

Exercise: Deadlift 205- 5, 5; Kettlebell push press 35s- 10,10,10,10; Hanging leg raise 10,10,10,10

*Of note, I did not get as many work sets as I would have liked, I needed to start putting our basement back together after a contractor project. More on this under the challenges of the week section below.

Morning: Black coffee and water.

Around 7:30 am: Bulletproof Coffee.

During the work day, 2 green teas 🍵 (unsweetened), plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: 3 Spoons of 10% Milkfat Greek Yogurt; bowl of coleslaw; around 5 oz roast pork with melted parmesan cheese and black pepper; 2 pickles.

Friday

Exercise: before work, 2.5 mile walk, around 50 minutes.

Food and Drink

Morning: Black coffee and water.

Around 7:30 am: Black coffee.

During the work day, 2 green teas 🍵 (unsweetened), plenty of water.

Around 4:30 pm: 3 Spoons of 10% Milkfat Greek Yogurt; bowl of coleslaw; 1 can herring; 2 pickles; side salad.

Saturday

Exercise: Leaf clean up (yes, yard work counts!), around 1 hour.

Food and Drink:

Morning: Black coffee and water.

*Rest of meals TBD-In the Interest of posting 🙂

Dietary Strategies I Use

Intermittent Fasting: Put simply, intermittent fasting is going period of time without eating or drinking anything with significant calories (black coffee has some calories, but does not break a fast). There are potential metabolic benefits to fasting, and it is also a strategy to help manage your overall intake of food in a day. If you eat breakfast at 6 am, dinner at 6 pm, and have late night snacks after dinner, your overall intake of food/calories will likely be higher than if you manage all meals within an 8 hour time frame each day.

The basic concept is to have a 16 hour fast, and an 8 hour period in which to eat your meals; this protocol can be adjusted to incorporate a longer fast and shorter eating period as well. The style I used this week was one meal a day (OMAD) intermittent fasting.

This is something I have in my dietary toolbelt because I spent some time building this metabolic flexibility while trying out the Keto diet for 30 days. If you started off trying to manage with one meal per day, it may be quiet uncomfortable if you have not spent some time trying out fasting and adjusting. If you wanted to give intermittent fasting a try, here is an idea:

1. Eat dinner at 6 pm after a normal day, no late night snacks.
2. When you wake up, do not eat breakfast, only have black coffee, tea, or water (no sugar or artificial sweetener.
3. If you get hungry before 10 am, drink plenty of water.
4. Eat your first meal at 10 am.

You have just fasted 16 hours!

Hydration: Hydration is important with any nutrition plan, but especially with intermittent fasting. Your body will sometimes send signals that indicate hunger, when actually you are thirsty and just need some water. And when I say hydration, I mean pure, clean water…you can have other beverages during the day, but the majority of your fluid intake should be water. Here is a helpful previous post on Hydration.

Eliminate Trigger Foods: Trigger Foods are foods that you are unable to stop eating once you have even a little bit, and they are different for everyone. It doesn’t matter if the food is “healthy” or not, what matters is your ability to control intake and stop eating the food. Mixed nuts may be considered “healthy”, but for me they can be a trigger food, so they will not be on the menu during my Thanksgiving blitz.

Eliminate (or greatly reduce) Grain, Added Sugar, Alcohol: This is a strategy I picked up during my Whole 30, and found that there are exponential returns on your health and energy levels when eliminating these food and drink groups. If you think of your trigger foods from above, I bet you a vast majority of them either have grain, or added sugar (or, you have a harder time controlling them if you have a few drinks).

Make the Weekend Winning Time! Use the weekend to get even more sleep, spend more time meal planning, and do some fun movements and exercise. If you party, drink, have treats, and stay up late on weekends (every weekend), you take away progress you are working towards.

My Weekly Progress Report

1. Sugar, Grain, and Alcohol were treats only.
2. Weight on Friday, 197.6! and 5th belt loop, both improvements and nice recovery from my week off.
3. I maintained my frequency of Cardio exercise.
4. I maintained my routine and volume of my goal upper body exercises.
5. I wore blue light glasses every light at least 1 hour before bed, and logged 1 night of 7 hours uninterrupted sleep during the week.

Let’s Talk about Week 1 [Video]

Challenges this Week

So many! Going back to work while dialing my nutrition and sleep back in after a week off (of all) was challenging. I did not take a week off from sleep, but my routine was off, and that was hard to recover from.

I ran into a challenge on Thursday morning, and chose to sacrifice some of my weight training. We had a project completed by contractors Wednesday evening at our home, and I had to get a few things back in place in the basement/HVAC systems before going to work Thursday morning. My options were:

1. Wake up earlier (sleep less) and complete the tasks, and complete my full training session.
2. Wake up at normal time, and chip away at the tasks in between my exercise sets. 

I chose option 2, and it resulted in less sets of training than I would have liked (see Thursday daily journal for details). We all have to make these types of decisions when trying to look after our health. For myself, I had to decide…is this a legitimate reason to adjust my training, or am I just making excuses? Knowing that the tasks must be accomplished, I chose my full night of sleep over my full weight workout. Having a full night of a sleep and a little bit less training is more beneficial in my experience, for your overall energy levels that day (compared to less sleep and more training).

Staying accountable is a challenge, as you can see above. A journal is a great way to stay accountable. For my example, I am using this blog post as my journal, and made daily entries all week! Another great way to stay accountable is tell someone what you are doing. Even if you do not have a formal accountability partner, you are much more likely to follow through if you write your goals down, and tell someone. Just as I used this post as my journal, I also used it to tell people what I am doing…everyone on the internet! Well…at least everyone reading my post.

Looking Ahead to Next Week

Next week I plan to continue my positive momentum on my nutrition, and also add some volume to my weight training. I will be mindful that next week will be a demanding week at my job, so adjustments may have to be made. Keeping up my routine of blue light glasses before bed and a consistent time to go to sleep will be important for working towards my goal of 7 hours each night. I will need to remind myself to stay accountable, and not make excuses!

See you next week!