Keeping routine when life changes

whitej1234

I'm back in the saddle, behaving well, eating the way I would assume I can continue on "forever" (with small fallback here in there, but nothing major). More importantly I established by routine, the one that helps me when will power is not there.
But I'm expected to have a big life changing event in about a month or so (nothing tragic, but still quit big). This is one of those periods of time where food will be the last thing on my mind, and so does routines.

How do you prepare for something like this? How do you keep track when you know you will not be able to log/weight yourself/eat regularly for quit some time (a few weeks I think).
I'm ok with letting go for that time, but I'm not ok with the fear of not coming back from it to my regular self (since I'm off the routine and back to will power only). This is no longer a dinner out or a holiday season of a week. This is a routine changing time frame.

Did you have something major coming your way that you knew will get you off track? How did you convince yourself to stay on track/comeback after a while without waiting for something to "click" again (and wiping off all your efforts in the meanwhile)? Did you kept logging something? Did you kept something from your old routine so you can comeback to it?

Ideas are very welcome.

Thanks

tulips_and_tea

I'm not exactly sure what type of event you're referring to, but regardless of what's going on I choose to stay as close to my usual eating as possible. If you've weighed and logged your food for a while you should be fairly good at judging portions so try practicing ahead of time so that your portions stay in-check during a time of not being able to weigh and log.

Again, not sure why you wouldn't be able to weigh yourself but you can take a cloth tape measure with you (possibly) and use that and how your clothes fit as a gauge.

The way I "convince" myself to stay on track is because I don't like the way I feel or look if I go off track. It's not even an option in my mind. If I have to eat different foods than I normally do, well, that's fine. I just adjust the portions accordingly.

middlehaitch

I’ve had this happen a few times recently. The longest was 8 weeks where I had to travel from the west coast of Canada to Scotland to care for my 91yo mum after an illness.

I didn’t have a scale for food or to weigh myself, or a gym membership.
I also had little time for myself or complete control over the food.

What I did.

My breakfast at home is usually coffee, a protein bar, and fruit, (about 300-350 cals).

While away that was pretty easy to duplicate, and I’d just prep mum what she wanted.

For other meals, whether made at home or eaten out, I relied on portion control. Not perfect, but I have a good idea of how big my portion of rice, potato, or pasta looks on a plate, same with proteins. Veg, lots of it at mum’s, steamed requested when eating out.
Desert or cookies, once a day while away, just like home.

I am not a snacker at home, so I politely declined snacks while away.

As far as exercise is concerned.
I usually hit the gym 5-6x a week, 2-3 x classes and 3 x weights.

While away I told myself I would fit in 60 min purposeful movement a day. This wasn’t easy, and often broken up.

I would walk, a lot, for my cardio (I’m not a runner). For weights, I jotted down (on my iPhone) the 2 simple routines I used previously, and alternated them. One was bodyweight, the other light weights (I used household objects), each only took 15min, and if I couldn’t get the 3sets in in one go, I’d split it up.

None of this was ideal, but it did give me a sense that I still had control and a routine.

By the time I returned home, my fitness level had dropped a bit, but not enough that I was discouraged. It took a few month to get back to where I was.
My weight, I am in maintenance, was still within the 5 lbs range I had set myself. No damage done.

The takeaway from this.
Food: be very portion aware, especially eating out.

Exercise: find time to move. It doesn’t have to be ones normal routine, it just has to be something.

Be consistent, and don’t let the people, or situation influence the choices you make during your ‘situation’. It isn’t easy but can be done.

Cheers, h.

whitej1234

The sort of things middlehaitch described, is what I mean. Being not at home, having quit limited time for myself, a lot of stress and unfamiliar environment that will get me off routines. Both of your suggestions are great (tape measure is an awesome idea!)

steveko89

I can't think of a scenario that would cause me to be away for that long of a time. Subsequently, the only way I can think to combat it would be to mentally approach it that same way I do for any smaller routine event (birthday, holiday, vacation, work trip, etc.) that I would encounter:
- Hold myself to the expectation of a return to "normal" immediately upon return
- continue logging, even if only estimates are possible
- mindful eating with an emphasis on sufficient protein
- Damage mitigation mindset; don't fully throw in the towel just because a day/week(s) aren't perfect or perfectly logged. At some point I know I will return to my normal routine; best case is likely maintenance with worst case being some regression. Do what I can to minimize the regression so I have the shallowest hole possible out of which to dig when returning to normal. That said, every food choice has a consequence, accepting consuming the food is accepting of those consequences with it, assign value to decisions accordingly.

mk2fit

Wow. I was going to ask how long you have been on MFP (or your routine). The longer you have been at this, the more familiar you should be with portions, movement, etc. I would read, then re-read what @middlehaitch wrote and follow what she suggested as best you can. Good luck!

thepainmaker88

Well I’m expecting in two months so I’m pretty much in the same boat. I just am gonna do what I gotta do. I know it’s gonna be a lot harder with a kid to look after but there are ways to improvise, almost always. I’ll probably be prepping much more food when my wife is around and eating a lot more protein shakes.

Using this life changing event as an excuse to not try is what got me here (up 30LBS since wife got prego ) in the first place. I hate how I look from ‘letting my self go’ and can’t go on gaining weight. If your new body (assuming you’ve had some success) means anything to you you’ll do what you have to do also.

Duck_Puddle

This has happened to me a number of times over the 7+ years I’ve been at this.

My approach is always to do my best and continue to log everything (even if it’s all an estimate).

My “best” might mean finding time to do some activity, or being able to make great food choices on one day. It might mean giving myself permission to focus on other priorities without guilt if that’s what needs to happen that day. It might mean choosing amongst the best or several poor options-being over 1500 instead of 2000. It might mean being able to bring some food/snacks somewhere so I have a better choice. It’s usually some combination. It’s almsot never ideal. Being ok with a “best” that isn’t perfect is important.

I have never stopped logging though. I’ve never stopped focusing on the process.

And even when I am in a situation where it’s not possible to make a good choice, making the best possible choice I can is the same thing I would do in ordinary circumstances. So there’s not really a huge change when things in life shift back - I just have better options to choose from. I’m still doing the same thing (making the best choice I can).

Being invested and aware is usually enough to keep damage to a minimum during the storm.

aokoye

When I was in Europe (most of my time was in Berlin) for 8 weeks a few summers ago I didn't weigh myself or my food. It wasn't practical for various reasons. I ended up gaining less than 5 pounds.

I ate foods that appeared to have similar nutrition profiles that I do when I'm at home, practiced moderation in the same way that I do at home, did a lot of walking, and a handful of body weight workouts from one of the Nike apps. I did not cut out things like ice cream, cake, and donner kebab (which I can't get here, sadly).

Blythmag

Accept it.back in the groove when you can.

aokoye

I just remembered a potentially important detail. I should note that I wasn't trying that hard to lose weight prior to leaving for Berlin. I am almost positive I was rarely counting calories (for mental health reasons) but I was weighing myself twice or three times a week.

I think I was probably doing my "eat the same amount and exercise more" method (I was cycling three days a week, including one long day - where long for me was 100km - I would fuel for the rides mind you). I say this because I suspect if I had really been counting calories (which I don't do nearly as strictly as a lot of people here) prior to going, I would have likely lost weight.

whitej1234

You guys are great, very nice insights! Thank you.
I guess I just need to find something to log so I don't loose focus, and it will not be as easy to close my eyes and make wrong choices. I think i will go with keep logging steps. This should be simple of my phone and hopefully keep me on track with the focus.