From a Spartan
Race standpoint, I did not have a good weekend. I attended the Toronto Maple Leafs
game on Thursday night which led to alcohol consumption & a late night. Cue
Saturday, & with the Leafs set to clinch a playoff berth for the first time
in 3 years, I once again found myself among friends cheering on the Leafs with
a 6-pack in tow, which ultimately led to some late-night pizza to mark the
occasion.
In the past, a
weekend like this would drive me off the rails into the land of fried foods
& missed workouts, & it would be a full week before I got back into my
routine, if I did at all. Instead, I allowed myself to sleep in on Sunday
morning to ensure I got my 8 hours, then woke up, had a kale shake, got in a great
workout, ate intelligently the rest of the day, & got to bed early to ensure I have a good start to my week.
The reality is
this was a very good weekend; I got to enjoy sporting events with friends, my
beloved Leafs clinched a playoff spot, I got to sleep in, & I still managed
to get a few workouts in, with Sunday being one of my best workouts of the week. For me, the key is to enjoy weekends like the one I
just had, recognizing it for what it is – the exception, rather than the rule.
In this post, I
discuss how to deal with setbacks after they happen.
Acknowledge It
You
made a mistake. You’re human. Whether you skipped a workout, had a lousy meal,
or had a few more drinks than you intended to, it’s done. Come to terms with it
in your mind; whether it was intentional or just happened, you slipped up. First,
look at the situation surrounding your mix up; maybe it was needed to blow off
some steam from work or to reset your mind following a new challenge in your personal life. Maybe it was to mark a special occasion like a
birthday or an anniversary. Regardless of the reason, acknowledge it & try
to distinguish why it happened so you
can avoid this type of situation in the future, if it is one that is likely to be repeated.
Often a cheat meal or skipped workout is a symptom of a different problem, like stress or lack of sleep, the key is to identify the problem to avoid future lapses. For extra motivation, take a few minutes to recognize how you feel after your lapse. If you had a night out with friends, do you have a
headache or are you feeling tired? If you went off the rails on your diet, do
you feel lethargic or is your stomach upset? By acknowledging the diminished
way your body feels, & contrasting it with how you feel when you are following your exercise & nutrition program, you can help avoid these types of slip ups in the future.
Put it in Perspective
Ok it was one
slip-up, or maybe a series of slip ups, so what? Chances are, you repeated a
behaviour that you used to engage in all the time, why beat yourself up for
this one occurrence? An indulgence like this is a good time to pat yourself on the
back for all of the hard work that you have been putting in & to refocus
yourself to try to push for a better result next time.
Made it 2 weeks without chocolate this time? Great, this time go for 3. For me,
a few drunken nights out with friends used to be a twice-a-weekend event, so in
hindsight it’s pretty impressive that I’ve made it nearly 4 weeks without such
an occasion! Take an opportunity to look at how well you have been doing as a
way to motivate yourself to jump back into your routine. Perhaps you had a string of 4 consecutive weeks of following your exercise program, or maybe you hadn't eaten out for 2 weeks - celebrate that! For extra motivation,
try to contrast the way you feel now with the way you felt at the height of
your health & fitness routine & strive to get back to that feeling.
End the ‘All-or-Nothing’
Mindset
I discussed the ‘all-or-nothing’
mindset in my post on accountability. This is a type of thinking that I have subscribed to for far too long, & it
can be incredibly damaging when attempting to create new habits or achieve long-term goals
of any type. The ‘all-or-nothing’ mindset refers to the type of
thinking that states ‘since I already cheated on my diet with this slice of
pizza, I might as well eat an entire chocolate cake.’ Moderation is key here;
if you’ve made a mistake, acknowledge it, put it in perspective, & get back
to the regularly scheduled programming. Habits or old ways of living can be
very challenging to overcome, do not fuel the fire by getting back into a
negative cycle. Remember, habits become strongest when they are tied to a contextual cue & repeated,
do not allow for your mind to recreate the neural pathways that got you stuck with your old habit in the first place. One way to avoid adopting the 'all-or-nothing' mindset is to remind yourself of your 'why' which I discussed in a previous post. By reminding yourself why you set out on this health & fitness journey, you can quickly refocus yourself back into the new lifestyle that you have adopted.
Move On
What’s done is
done. No Spartan Racer or fitness enthusiast is without the occasional lapse in
their diet program or exercise regimen. What makes elite athletes so impressive
is their ability to maximize the amount of time between such mistakes, along
with their ability to quickly reset after an error is made & return to
the diet & exercise program that has made them successful. The best way to
stop thinking about the error of your ways is to get back into the gym & push harder than ever. Force yourself to get into the gym & follow your diet plan even if the effort is lackluster or the food tastes bland; the important thing is that you get back to your routine as quickly as possible to reinforce your new habits. I’m happy to say that I pushed myself to have the strongest leg day of
my exercise program last night which was followed by my best HIIT elliptical workout of the program. I'm back & I couldn't be more excited!
So there you have
it, tonight I will be joining the army of gym-goers who show up to the gym on Monday night in an
attempt to repent for the sins of their unhealthy weekends. I
had my first slip up of my Spartan journey on Day 25 - so what? Overall I have spent 25 of
27 days following my diet & exercise regimen which is a whole lot better
than the 0 of 27 days prior. Slowly but surely I am improving, & can't wait to see how long I can make it between slip ups this time!
100 Day Spartan
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