Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I’m still eating healthy. I haven’t binged for a week now. The only thing I can credit to staying on track is planning my meals. Mike and I sat down a week ago and planned three days worth of meals for me. We wrote down breakfast and lunch and then planned the evenings that we were going to go out to eat dinner. For the first time in months, I was able to keep myself from bingeing by following that plan. Friday evening, we sat down and planned an entire week for me and I’ve been able to keep from abusing myself.

I was always reluctant to plan my meals ahead of time. I didn’t want to lose my spontaneity. I have always wanted to be the kind of person that eats what she wants when she wants. I was never willing to write out a plan for the next day, much less a week.

The only problem with that is I end up obsessing about food all day long.

As soon as I finish a meal, I need to think about what I’m going to eat next. I had no idea that giving up spontaneity would give me such freedom. Now, instead of worrying about my next meal, I already know what my next meal is going to be. It’s something that I was excited about when I planned it, and I know it’s going to fit into my program.

Since I’ve planned my meals, I actually obsess about food less, not more. If I follow the plan perfectly, I don’t need to journal a thing. I don’t need to write down one word because it’s already there. Planning makes eating healthy so much easier.

I know I’ve heard that before. It’s said so many times that it’s a cliche. Planning makes eating healthy easier. I would nod and I thought that I was doing enough planning by buying enough healthy veggies and fruits for the week. I didn’t want to have to plan every morsel of food that went into my mouth. Where’s the fun in that?

None. I have to be honest. There is very little fun in planning your meals for the week. Last Friday, it took Mike and I an hour to do it. There was a little bit of excitement when we chose which recipes we were going to cook on the eating at home dinners, but basically, it was an hour of boring planning. No fun.

The truth is, I feel such a sense of peace about food. I had gotten to the point that I wasn’t journaling because I was sick of writing down every bite of food I put into my mouth. Now, if I follow the plan, I don’t need to write. I just eat the meal on the schedule.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll share the spreadsheet that makes planning so much easier.