FIT&FAB: How to guarantee failure in your fitness journey

It takes deliberate effort  to have green apples,  garden salad, an avocado, plain yogurt, whole bread sandwich and such like lying around. It takes planning. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • I recall one time I had decided to take up the  no-wheat challenge.
  • The night prior to my wheat abstinence, I could hardly sleep due to excitement.
  • I was fully psyched to ditch the wheat for a good 21 days.
  • Do you have feedback on this story? E-mail: [email protected]

It is said that failing to plan is planning to fail.

I have tons of experience that bear truth to this saying.

Preparation can easily make or break your journey to fitness.

Contrary to the belief held by my family and friends, I didn’t lose all that excess weight at the wave of a magical wand.

NOT A WIN AFTER WIN

It was not a win after win kind of journey.

There were some serious plateaus. Months of stalling and even slipping. I had my fair share of slippery slopes. Looking back now, I understand what caused those hiccups in my journey. It was simply failing to plan ahead.

SHOPPING IN ADVANCE

Planning calls for shopping for the groceries in advance.

I recall one time I had decided to take up the  no-wheat challenge.

The night prior to my wheat abstinence, I could hardly sleep due to excitement. I was fully psyched to ditch the wheat for a good 21 days.

In the morning when I woke up, I went straight to the fridge. I opened the bowl which I presumed had some sweet potatoes from the previous week. I had eaten some and stored the rest for later.

I opened the bowl to find the brownest greasiest mandazis staring back at me seductively.

Apparently, someone had eaten the sweet potatoes and stored mandazis there. Of course that was likely to happen since I didn’t live alone in the house.

My alternatives that morning was left over chapatis or wheat bread.

NO PLANS TO STARVE MYSELF

I had no plans to starve myself and ended up eating two mandazis, a chapati and two slices of bread with tea.

That’s how I failed to do the wheat challenge that had gained a lot of popularity among fitness enthusiasts.

Had I checked to see what non-wheat breakfast options I had at least two days before the challenge, I would be telling a very different story today.

Many of us are struggling and falling off the wagon because we fail to prepare food in advance.

We fail to shop for veggies and fruits and plain yogurt. When the hunger pangs strike, we grab whatever we come across to curb the hunger.

A half-eaten bar of chocolate, a bag of potato chips, the roadside vendor selling greasy samosas,  these and many more are always conveniently around us in the hour of need.

It takes deliberate effort  to have green apples,  garden salad, an avocado, plain yogurt, whole bread sandwich and such like lying around. It takes planning.

EFFECTIVE WORKOUT ROUTINE

The same goes for an effective workout routine.  One time, we were scheduled for a morning jog with a few pals and as I pulled out my running shoes from under the bed, I noticed that the soles of both shoes were completely worn out. They were seemingly laughing at me as I called on of my friends and bailed out.

I missed a great workout session, jogging on the gentle slopes of Ngong hills simply because I did not have my gear ready.

Fitness is not a smooth ride especially on the onset of the journey. It takes a great deal of motivation to get the body to submit to a new way of life.

The last thing you need is lack of ingredients or work out outfit to burst your resolve bubble.

Learn to prepare well in advance for all your fitness endeavors.

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Fit&Fab is a blog series by Marion Maina who lost 30kg in her weight loss journey that started two years ago and is now in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. Do you have feedback on this story? E-mail: [email protected]