Hey friends! Happy Friday! I hope you had a fabulous last week of February! Can you believe it’s March 1st tomorrow? Summer is fast approaching! Which is one reason why I’ve been working hard behind the scenes to put together weekly challenges that I hope will help all of us implement small, healthy changes.
Before we get there, though, we need to get motivated. The winter blues are probably settled in and the realtiy of holiday weight gain might be setting in too. It’s time to take charge! Below you’ll find a printable calendar with daily prompts to get you motivated for change. If you’re like me, you’ve been stalling to get started, but let me tell you friends: there is no better time than the present! That’s why you see the quote “A year from now you will have wished you started today” printed at the very top of this calendar – as a reminder that now is the time. RIGHT NOW! Let’s do this!
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Here’s a breakdown of what’s required this first week. These small steps will lead to big changes if you follow them and get motivated! Next Friday I’ll post more details about the prompts for week two. I’ll also do a few check-in posts because I’m doing this challenge with you! Let’s go!
March 1: Plan your day!
Really, really plan your day. Go ahead and write down what you’re going to eat on Saturday, and make it healthy! Log it in MyFitnessPal or just write in the notes in your phone – however you do it, just do it! Be in control! Don’t let the weekend start (the month start!) and you’re midway through pancakes and mimosas at brunch, putting off your goals yet again!
It might sound tedious to log your food before you eat it but this will start your month off on the right foot! Take CONTROL of you diet, PLAN, PLAN, PLAN, and remember: Fail to plan then plan to fail! Planning your meals for this first day will set the tone for the rest of this month! Do it!
Here’s what I’m eating Saturday:
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs, a banana and green smoothie
- Lunch: sweet potato hash with chicken sausage and tomato slices
- Mid-afternoon snack: A lara bar and protein shake, maybe an apple and/or almonds
- Dinner: I’m going to an event at Golden Corral – YES! The buffet! FML! – But, the plan: grilled chicken, greens, and a sweet potato! I can do this! If I have a sweet tooth, I’m hitting up the fruit bar!
March 2: Get Ready
Print this calendar, weigh-in, go to the grocery store, get the healthy food you need to stay on track this week, and meal prep! YOU HAVE TO MEAL PREP! This is key to your success this first week. If you don’t have healthy foods on hand, you’ll eat something easy, which usually means something processed, sugary, and without a lot of nutritional value. Even though grocery shopping and prepping will take time of your day Sunday, it will save you time this week. It will make eating clean feel effortless, especially if you have the healthy foods you LIKE on hand.
Here’s a quick rundown of my meal plan for the week:
- Breakfast: Egg casserole
- Morning snack: Apples + almond butter
- Lunch: Sweet potato hash with chicken sausage
- Dinner: Pizza spaghetti squash bake from PaleOMG
- Other dinners: Chicken, veggies, and cauliflower mash / Salmon salad
- Afternoon snack: Almonds + raisins or hard boiled eggs or a lara or quest bar
- Dessert: Banana “ice cream”
Want a more specific meal plan? Try this one.
March 3: Take a Picture
– Here’s what works for me: taking a picture of myself in a cute bikini at Target and then SAVING THAT PICTURE AS THE BACKGROUND ON MY PHONE. Do I want to look at my body in a bikini, the way my body looks right now? No, not really… I’d prefer not to think about bikinis or my diet at all! But, by saving the picture as the background on my phone, it’s a reality check! (It’s a little “ahem, reminder, you have goals!”)
March 4: Plan your reward!
We need rewards to movitate us to stay on track. Brainstorm incentatives to stay the course – what is your timeframe? Is there an anniversary or trip coming up? If not, plan one! Make that your first benchmark! Another idea is to set-up weight-loss rewards (at 10 lbs, I’ll treat myself to a manicure; at 15 lbs, a new pair of shoes, etc.) I also love the idea to buy the rewards ahead of time, wrap them, and put them in plain sight as motivation!
March 5: Measure
Take your waist, hip, and thigh measurements as a starting point. Sometimes you lose inches before you lose weight (fact) and in my book, that’s just as exciting (if not MORE exciting) because it means my clothes fit better!
March 6: Get Visual!
Print pictures and post them around your apartment. Create a calendar on your wall. GET VISUAL. Make your goal the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning. Put a sticky note on your bathroom mirror that says, “A year from now you will have wish you started today.” Anything to keep your goals ever-present in your mind! (Here are some motivational tactics on Pinterest!)
image via eat-healthy-train-hard-tumblr
March 7: Journal for 10
Take 10 minutes and write down why you’re doing this, why you want to do this… what’s your motivation? How bad do you want it? What’s holding you back? What usually works for you? Write it all down!!!
March 8: Start the day with a healthy breakfast.
With the weekend, it’s all about getting off on the right foot! Keep your motivation strong by starting your Saturday with a healthy breakfast! That will set the tone for a great day and another awesome weekend!
I’m so excited for those of you doing these small challenges with me! If you can’t start tomorrow, feel free to start Sunday or Monday, or whenever! I’ll post more details about week two next week! In the meantime, GET MOTIVATED!!! And happy March! 🙂
What motivation tactics work for you?
What’s it take to motivate you?
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