18. CHAPTER 7 - PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
I spend a lot of time talking with people who are in the Contemplation stage of change (see Chapter 3 if you want a refresher on all of the stages). These people have decided that they do want to make a change, but they’re not sure how to do it or how to begin.
People in this stage are often looking for practical steps that will help them get started so they will sometimes ask questions like this:
“What’s the one thing I can do that will make the biggest difference?”
My answer is always the same: The most important thing you can do to lose weight is making time to plan. I’ll say that again,
Planning is the most important part of the weight-loss process.
A few years ago I was asked to speak at a corporate event in the city where I live. The audience was small (maybe 100 people) and was made up of mostly business executives who spend the majority of their time sitting in meetings and in their offices. I was asked to talk to them about healthy living and work-life balance – No problem.
The talk was only supposed to last about 30 minutes and the topic was something I knew inside and out. I was confident that I could deliver an engaging message in my sleep so I didn’t take too much time to prepare.
A day or two before the event I ran through some ideas in my head. I had a couple stories I wanted to tell, a few stats and research studies I’d touch on, and a joke or two that would keep the audience entertained.
On the day of the event I was running behind schedule, and by the time I arrived the group had finished their meal and was waiting for my presentation. Maybe it was my tardiness that threw me off, or maybe it was the audience, or the venue. I just know that I stood up on stage behind the podium and I didn’t feel comfortable at all. My confidence disappeared and my mind went blank.
I forgot the story I wanted to open with, and the my statistics all began to jumble together. I opened with a joke about being late – It wasn’t funny and few people laughed. I could feel the sweat start running down the inside of my shirt.
This was going to be a long 30 minutes!
I went into that situation thinking that I had planned for it. I knew what I wanted to say – it was all in my head. But, when it came time to perform, my plan went out the window. I bombed that speech.
If you don’t take time to make a detailed plan, your weight-loss goals are going to bomb too.
Your plan is your roadmap for the following week. It will make all of your daily decisions easier because you have pre-decided what you want to do and where you want to end up that week.
There are at least 3 things that need to go into your plan: (Note: we will cover each of these items in the upcoming chapters. For now, just focus on the general items your plan needs to include)
#1. Water – How much water are you going to drink each day?
#2. Exercise – What exercise are you going to do and when will you get it done each day?
#3. Food – What are your 3 main meals of the day going to include? What snacks are you going to prepare?
I say that your plan needs to include “at least” these 3 things. Some clients like to include other items as well (e.g. bedtime, social events, etc.) – Feel free to add any other categories you like, but just be certain to include the 3 I’ve outlined above.
Next I want you to imagine how different your days will look when you have this plan written out and ready to follow. Your day might unfold like this:
You wake up in the morning and roll out of bed. Instead of grabbing a bagel on the way out the door you open the fridge and find all the ingredients for your green smoothie. In 5 minutes your new breakfast is ready to go and you’re taking the kids to school on your way to work.
It’s mid-morning and you can feel a little hunger in your stomach. A co-worker brought cookies to the staff room but you pass on them because you have a container of chopped veggies at your desk (yeah, cookies would taste great but you know they aren’t what you really want to eat!)
Lunchtime rolls around - You’d normally slip out to the local sandwich shop for a bite to eat, but instead you put on some confortable shoes (you packed them this morning) and head out for a 30-minute walk. When you get back to the office you feel energized and look forward to enjoying the homemade chili you prepared on the weekend. It’s waiting for you in a Tupperware container and comes with a side of salad with balsamic dressing, both of which you made last night.
Sitting on your desk is your water bottle. It’s halfway empty and you know you are going to drink the rest before your workday is done – That will put you on-track to easily get all your water in for the day. This is easy!
Your afternoon seems to fly by (maybe it’s the exercise you got at lunch) and soon you’re on the way home. It’s nice knowing that your fridge has the ingredients you need for Rainbow Raw Pad Thai (that’s in your plan for dinner – no guessing or last-minute scrambling).
It doesn’t take much time to prepare dinner because you already have the recipe and ingredients ready to go. It’s a meal you’ve never tried before – it tastes great and even the kids don’t mind it!
After dinner you take your son to hockey practice and bring your water bottle, which you filled up when you got home because you know you have one more bottle to drink today.
Back at home the kids get ready for bed and you head to the kitchen. Looking at the plan for tomorrow you see what foods need to be prepped and you open the fridge to find all the necessary items (you did grocery shopping on the weekend with your plan in-hand so you know it’s all there).
Time to relax before bed. You look at your plan one last time and feel a sense of satisfaction as you check off all of your items.
Water – check!
Exercise – check!
Food – check, check, and check!
Sounds pretty great. Maybe it sounds a little too good to be true? Well, it might not be so smooth at first, but as we’ve discussed, you are dedicating 4 weeks to this process. After 4 weeks of planning and using that plan on a daily basis, it will become very natural and eventually habitual.
Much of the daily stress you face each day is due to a lack of planning. By putting your water, exercise, and meals into a concrete plan, you reduce the ambiguity of your day and free your mind from having to problem-solve as you go.
As an added bonus, your plan will help you overcome temptations. When someone unexpectedly brings treats to work or to your house, it’s really hard to say no if you’re stomach is growling from hunger. It is much easier to pass on the treats when you have eaten a good meal and have snacks prepared, ready to be eaten.
The same goes for exercise. Most of us would like to exercise regularly, but life is just “too busy”. Truthfully, life is only too busy when exercise isn’t part of your plan. Once you schedule exercise into your day and treat is as an appointment (which is why I ask you to plan the type of exercise and the time it will get done), the likelihood of actually doing it skyrockets.
In the “10 in 4” Challenge we always set Sundays at 9pm as a “due date” for plans for the upcoming week. Your due date doesn’t have to be on Sunday but there should be a day and time when you commit to having it done.
Personally, I like Sundays as the deadline because it will force you to plan on the weekend, which gives you an opportunity to buy groceries and do some food prep for the week.
You might choose to buy groceries on Saturday and then prepare some of your food (e.g. cut up veggies, put a meal in the slow cooker, thaw ingredients from the freezer, etc.) on Sunday. By Sunday night you will have a very clear picture as to what your upcoming week will look like. It’s a very satisfying feeling.
On the next page you will find a sample plan that I use with my clients. You will also find a blank planning sheet just like this one in Appendix A that you can use to create your own weekly plans.
Don’t get caught up in the details of this sample plan as we will cover those in the upcoming chapters. For now just notice how this plan is set up. The 3 categories (water, exercise, and food) are clearly laid out and there is a place to check off the items that you accomplish you each day. We’ll return to these checks when we discuss accountability in the next chapter.
This plan is simple, it includes just enough detail but not too much, and it provides all the guidance you need to make the healthy choices you want to make.
I don’t exaggerate when I say planning is the most critical aspect of your weight-loss success. Taking the time to craft your plan will instantly pay dividends and will become the backbone of your fitness success.
19. How will planning change the way your week plays out?
20. How will you feel when you have your plan completed and have your food prepped for the week?
21. What day and time will your plan be finished?