Turns out spreading yourself too thin can actually cause you to become, well, the opposite of thin…
I recently discovered a horrifying side effect of being extremely busy. Like many business owners, I was spending long days in front of the computer, lots of time on the phone and many hours frantically driving from meeting to meeting. The result? While I got a lot done, my waistline suffered the side effects!
It’s easy to see how – too much time sitting, grabbing unhealthy snacks on the run because I was too busy to plan to feed myself properly and not enough exercise all contributed to stacking on some unwanted kilos.
Luckily I realised what was happening before weight gain of reality television show-proportions was done and have been able to start the process of turning it around by employing a few tactics:
- Personal training – I’ve never been one who enjoys a lot of exercise and I can’t remember the last time I stepped foot in a gym, so I knew I had to take a drastic measure in order to be able to commit. By signing up for personal training, I am hitting my back pocket in order to reduce my waistline. Not only does someone else do the ‘thinking’ for me (I can just concentrate on ‘doing’), but it’s at least three non-negotiable pre-paid appointments each week that I can’t afford NOT to keep.
- Restocking my pantry/fridge – I am making a greater effort to keep my fridge and pantry stocked with healthy meal and snacks so that if I do need to eat on the run I have plenty of satisfying and healthy options and don’t find myself reaching for something that I shouldn’t. I got rid of 95 per cent of the junk food in the house – deliberately keeping the odd ‘sometimes’ food to avoid any binging or unaccounted for shopping basket items.
- Cooking more – by making more of an effort to get into the kitchen, I’m not only saving money, but controlling what ingredients go into my body.
- Taking regular breaks from work. Enough said.
- Publicly declaring my journey – In order to help keep myself accountable, I have ‘fessed up to people in my life. I’ve got people cheering from the sidelines who can also support me if I fall back into old habits.
The secret was taking action the day I realised how bad things had become. Leaving it till tomorrow will only put off your results and make it harder to take control.
Be warned though – my advice would be to not start with a personal trainer at the beginning of the week, because for the first session or two your muscles will KILL you (but it’s worth it, I promise)!