What not to do ...

Yesterday was an example of what not to do if I want to take good care of myself.

This weekend was the Lavender Festival and yesterday my wife and three of my kids and I decided to attend.

First, I had breakfast really late, it was actually lunch time by the time I had a bowl of oatmeal. I've basically already missed two meals: breakfast and morning snack. I'm starting out way behind.

I took a liter of water with me to the festival, but I shared it with everyone so I didn't drink nearly enough water. I didn't refill it. I was just thirsty. We walked around in the heat, sweating a lot, no fluids.

The festival was fun, there was plenty of food available. Vendors were giving out samples. I tasted 5 varieties of hazelnuts. I tasted an apple covered in candy: dark chocolate and cherry flavored something. It was delicious. I tasted lavender lemonade. Loved it. I tasted jerky made from python. However, these were just a taste, and by 5 p.m. I felt absolutely sick and could feel my blood sugar crashing.

I began to feel sore in my lats from my last workout. I haven't been getting sore, but now my body has stopped the recovery process. No real food, no water, no supplements because those are at home and I'm at the festival. I could have taken them with me, but I didn't.

We went out for dinner. I had a barbequed pork pizza. Not what I would usually eat, but the lack of food has left me plenty of wiggle room. I don't count calories or macros, but I'm aware of them and normally don't go over board. This should have been my 5th meal, but was only my second.

I ate the pizza, but it was too late in the day to have an effect on my hormone levels. I stayed ravenous all evening. I ate quite a bit once we got home. I limited myself to foods that were healthful for me, but I couldn't stop eating them. I had an apple, crackers and peanut butter, banana, carrots, cheese, protein bar. I did not use my emergency plan to handle binge eating, because that plan works for emotional eating and this had nothing to do with emotional eating. This is the appetite of a body out of balance.

I knew exactly what had happened. I wanted to binge eat because by evening I was tired, dehydrated, and my ghrelin, leptin, and cortisol levels are all way off base from a day of not taking care of myself. This is the human body fighting for what it needs to repair, function, and survive. This is what happens when I work against my body and it's healing processes instead of with them.

This morning I'm sore, stunningly vascular, constipated, and not looking or feeling my best. This tells me that my body did not have what it needed to recover from Saturday's workout, I'm a little dehydrated, and I'd better be getting my nutrition on track immediately.

I'm taking the warning and getting back on track. I feel so much better when I take care of myself. I don't want to feel the way I felt yesterday or this morning.
I'm not judging myself in the least for over eating last night. I'm not even judging myself for having not taken care of myself.
It's just results. I can see how different a normal day is from yesterday. I'll remember it. I'll take precautions to see that it doesn't happen again. Next time something like this comes up, I'll hydrate better, carry a protein bar, some protein powder, extra water, other snacks, take my supplements with me and take them on time. I can plan better, I can prepare better.

Next weekend my wife and I are celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary. We don't see much of one another these days, so next weekend we are planning a weekend camping trip and spending Friday, Saturday, and Sunday together. Being out in the woods, I won't have access to a regular kitchen, so I'm going to have to plan carefully to make sure I have what I need.

Speaking of planning and preparation, one more thing I did not do yesterday is food prep. I have some time this morning, so after my workout, I'm off to do a little shopping and then I'm spending some time in the kitchen getting ready for this week.

Bear Bryant said, "It's not the will to win that matters, everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters."

Success is in the preparation. If I do not prepare, I'll just repeat yesterday over and over. If I prepare, I achieve success.