Finally! The Toblerone Is Defeated!
It's been a long time coming, but finally my battles with stress-related chocolate craziness and sofa laziness are - potentially, tentatively, possibly - under control. No more shall the Toblerone hold tyranny over me in my own house! No more shall the call of the television draw me in like the sirens who sang to lure sailors onto the rocks...
Ok, so I might be overstating it slightly. I can't say for sure that this new development means I'll never fall off the wagon ever again - in fact, I can pretty much say that that definitely isn't the case, what with me being a falliable human and not a freaky fitness robot.
But what it does mean is that through sheer persistence and never giving up, we can ultimately manage to find a better response to feeling ropey and stressed than sitting on the sofa, taking respite in sloth and gluttony.
This week has been tough - not in any great shakes sort of a way, just in a running on empty, feeling pretty pants kind of a way that I'm sure you can relate to. Which does not a productive week make. And normally, this way of feeling does not a healthy eating week make, either. You’ve been there, right?
But. When you are determined never to give up the pursuit of healthy, happy, lean and vibrant food and movement choices and to make those your default option, the stage you reach first of all is one where you do make those choices - when you think about it really, really hard.
The second stage is where you do make those choices more often than not without really thinking about it when times are good…but still make crap choices when times are more challenging and you're all Stressed Eric about the world.
At the third stage, you make great food and exercise choices without thinking when times are good and with a lot of wrestling with yourself when you're tested, but you still do it. That’s a good stage to reach, but it still takes waaaaay too much mental energy to stay on track.
The fourth - that’s where you can chill that little bit more. It’s the holy grail of food and fitness habits, no less! You know you’re in stage 4 when you make healthy, happy, lean, supportive eating and exercising choices regardless of what is going on with you.
Which stage was I on this week? Somewhere between the third and fourth, I reckon. There was some wrestling. Definitely. But there was also some easy, no brainer decisions to eat the salad, not the chips, and to head outside for a workout instead of wallowing. Overall, my higher self - which gets that vegetables and water make us feel better, chocolate and chips make us feel crappy - won.
Did something click? Was I privy to new, elusive, secret part of the jigsaw puzzle that caused this step to fall into place????
No. I just never gave up trying. Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey.