I’ve been on travel for the past week and a half, and am now back home in North Carolina.

I walked into the gym I attend in Durham today to find it completely empty. That’s not normal but it’s not a shocker either as I tend to do things on “off” hours.

Then I remembered that this week at PRIME, the earth has stopped spinning. Or maybe it’s that rivers are flowing up hill, or cats are barking and dogs meowing.

This week is a mandatory break for the training staff, which means no group classes.

How would or should you handle that?

If you didn’t know, the numbers say that we gain more weight between thanksgiving and New Year’s Day than we lose all year!

So what the heck would YOU do, now that we’re in that time frame and training is off for the week? How would YOU keep the momentum going?!

I’ve got a few suggestions… things that I would tell my 1-on-1 training and nutrition clients if they told me they were traveling, or hurt their pinky, or they were just generally expecting to be off schedule.

Ask yourself this question…

“What’s the BEST I can do?”

Too often I find we spend time focusing on what’s not perfect and it throws us for a loop. A buddy of mine often says “Between all and nothing, nothing typically wins.” What he means is the perfectionist approach is a losing one.

This is why I we don’t like the “just give me a meal plan” approach. When the meal plan calls for 4 eggs and you’ve only got 3 at the house, people tend to chalk up the whole meal, then the day, as a loss. “Oh well, this is a bust. I’ll start tomorrow.” And down goes Frasier.

So ask yourself, give the situation, “What’s the best I can do?”

Next up…

Make a SHORT list.

They can be things like:

• I can go in at my normal time and do cardio this week
• I can repeat one of my favorite previous workouts, or
• I can squeeze just 20 minutes in a day of screen free, deliberate exercise

Keep the list short, simple, and easy to achieve.

And consider reframing the problem.

So you’re away from what’s become ideal or just normal. Maybe that’s a GOOD thing.

How about looking at the issue from another perspective, like:

“I normally train 4 hours per week. I can use that time this week to focus on what I’m eating.”

You may have the time to cook a few very simple meals. Or you can use the time to grab a black trash bag and clear out the setbacks living in your kitchen cabinets and freezer. There’s link on this page to a grocery list that I keep handy.

You can focus this week on stress reduction. The gains you make there will speed up your progress in every other area of life anyway. That’s a great use of time.

Or if time is just nonexistent, take a step back and forgive yourself. Go back to step 1, and pick a time free options like tracking your water intake, or choosing vegetable bases for every meal this week. That may be the best you can do.

Overall…

We have various areas of our life that impact our fitness and health goals. If they were already awesome then you would be an Olympian. (I know there are several OLYs reading this. I can hear your brains already considering your snarky response.)

Overall, look away from what’s “missing.” What’s available to work on right now? Make a list. Keep it short and simple. Go get your gains, the problem is temporary.

Contact me when you’re ready to work the plan.
-Coach Be