Prepare for the End! (of excuses)

If you don't take the time & put in the effort to prep yourself for all the parts of your goals, you're going to have a much tougher time of it sticking to it and are more likely to fail. It's an integral part, really, but nobody seems to preach it. Sure, for the millions out there who have the vague but consistent yearn to "lose weight", all they hear is "diet", "exercise", or option three: "try this latest fad/pill/diet/food/juice/product/crap".

Nobody says, Prepare.

Diet? Maybe instead of focusing on getting the latest juicer or decrying the evils of bread (instead of spending needless dollars or jumping on a bandwagon who's science is murky or you don't understand, because it's probably hokum), you could try to sit down and do the following:

1. Plan your menu for the week. Simple. No, it really is. Breakfasts, Lunches, and Dinners. I sit down with my tea at breakfast every Sunday morning and decide what I'm/we're eating for the week, and then I go grocery shopping to get it. It keeps my food bills under control, and creates less stress around meal time. Great tip here: repetition may sound boring, but sticking with something that works & that's relatively easy to prepare ahead of time is something you will grow to love and depend on, especially for smaller meals like breakfast & lunch. So worry less about variety, that will find a way into your diet whether you like it or not, and this way you'll feel less guilty about it when it does. I tend to pack/prep breakfasts and most lunches Sunday night and pack them to bring into work with me Monday morning, so that my food is set and waiting for me for the rest of the week.
   
   Breakfasts: I tend to stick to high fiber, high protien, low sugar cereals in the morning with skim milk with a piece of fruit or two. I pre-pack into little Glad containers on Sunday night (dry).  I keep a small bottle of skim milk in my work fridge and buy a new one every week to replace it. That's 5 containers of cereal, and 5 bananas or apples or a box of clementines.
   
   Lunches: In the summer, I'm a fan of prepacking salads into these awesome Glad containers that even come with their own pop in dressing container. WORTH IT. Buy those bad boys. I usually would buy a pack of canned shredded chicken breast or tuna that I'd top the salad with to get some more protein and keep me fuller. Also, Bolthouse dressing is the way to go. Creamy, rich, delicious, good on EVERYTHING, and very low cal/low sugar. In the winter, I stick with soups, and just bring a couple cans into work and keep them in my drawer with a microwavable bowl. We have a microwave at work. They also have microwavable containers but two warnings: 1) those tend to hide 2 servings in one container which I think is cheap and mean and sneaky and 2) they have a lot of sodium so watch that.
   
   Dinners: This is where I need some variety, but I have become a huge fan of my crock pot. I can prep it the night before, pull it out of the fridge the morning off and plug that bad boy in. Done! And usually left-overs the next day to boot. Find some healthy recipes for it and you're set. Also a pack of chicken breasts or steaks and some steam-able veggies can never go wrong here.
   
   Snacks: This is hard, but don't even go into the chip or candy aisle. Don't. Don't do it. Pretend or actually bring your 4 year old with you and you won't even be tempted. Stick with fruits, veggies, hummus, yogurt, nuts, etc.
   
   I know the family situation complicates the numbers and prep time, but as a parent you've learned what is truly important usually finds a way of happening. So make this a priority, like anything that really needs to happen. Because you are important, your goals and what makes you happy are important. How would reaching those goals be any less so?
   
2. Go Shopping with the above in mind, then come home and prep as you're putting the food away. Make it part of the same chore. Done and done! 

Exercise? Same story - it's all about preparation. When you plan out when & where you'll be working out and what you'll be doing ahead of time, you're more likely to stay committed. If my gym bag is packed the night before with a change of clothes for work, shower things, & ipod; and my gym clothes laid out on top - I am out the door in 15 minutes after waking up. Lay out your exercise plan & appropriately stagger activities, so that you're not so sore after two days you don't want to go back. Plan time for stretching. A hot bath for me at the end of the day is a must when I'm in full training mode.