Removing Friction

 These past couple of weeks in WW we have talked about removing friction from my our lives, specifically the friction to discourages us from making the choices that will help us reach out goals. The idea is pretty simple. If you clear the path and make the better choice the easy choice, you will do things that get you closer to your goal.

Until we started talking about this I didn't realize how much I do this every single day and week. I know I learned many of the items from WW but some of them are behaviors I saw growing up and still do to this day.

Meal Planning

Growing up I very clearly remember my parents meal planning for 2 weeks at a time. It was always on a small notepad that would stay on the fridge. My dad would then grocery shop every 2 weeks. I always loved grocery shopping with him. I still am what most people would consider weird, and enjoy grocery shopping. Usually around Thursday or Friday I plan for the upcoming week. I start my list with our standard items that we always buy (english muffins, greek yogurt, fruit and veggies, etc) and then plan for the coming week, looking at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

This is my WW meal planner. You can see the columns for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, along with the spots to put how many points the items are.

Shane is a creature of habit and eats the same thing for breakfast/lunch every day. I am honestly also a creature of habit. I eat Peanut Butter and Jelly Overnight Oats (steel cut oats, vanilla almond milk, 13 grams of PB2, 17 grams of sugar free jelly). I make up a batch of 3-4 of these and then when I eat them I add non-fat plain greek yogurt. I also may make Egg Bites (eggs, cheese, some kind of meat, cooked in muffin pans) with Thomas's 100 cal English Muffin (super high in fiber! :)), or breakfast calzones (2 ingredient dough, eggs, cheese). These are all super filling, and fit well within my points budget. For lunches I often make big batches of things and freeze them (chili, egg roll in a bowl, unstuffed cabbage rolls), pulling out a few each week. I also make things that traditionally I would eat for dinner but Shane doesn't like (Chicken Tetrazini). 

Some random items I prepped: ONO, portioned Bada Beans, pineapple and broccoli, chicken and rice, apple sauce, celery, salads

For dinners we again are creatures of habit. We have tacos every week (99% fat free ground turkey, fat free refried beans, black beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, low carb tortilla shells). We also eat pizzas made on 2 ingredient dough (self rising flour and non-fat plain greek yogurt). Basically a week doesn't go without these, so that means I am just filling in 3-4 other days (since we will usually have left overs or take out one day). I make most things up on the weekend as much as possible. If its a casserole, I made it ahead of time. If its pasta, I cook the pasta and sometimes will even cook the meat (chicken breast, or turkey meatballs) so then it is just a matter of reheating. Even now when I am working from home I still do this even though I technically would have more time to cook each night (normally I get home around 6:15-6:30, and right now I am done around 5:30). 

Pizza on 2 ingredient dough, cheeseburger calzones, tacos and the tortillas we use (super low in points and high in fiber!)

I am certain that many people would be surprised by what we eat for dinner, all while maintaining a health lifestyle overall. Chicken tenders and fries in the oven, Pizza Casserole, Nachos, the list goes on and on. All of these with minor tweaks that make them healthier and still tasty. I could go on and on about substitutes and how I do that, but I will stop there since that could be a topic on its own. I went on and on about this because the food that we eat is VITAL to our overall health. If I eat items that are not good for me, I feel it. And I still do it sometimes, but planning minimizes the times that happens, and it makes it more of a conscious choice rather than doing it because I feel like I don't have options. It is a big mental win to be excited to chow down on some deep dish pizza, as opposed to ordering pizza because I didn't plan and now I will feel like I didn't do myself any favors. 

A few of our Go To: Egg Bites, Spinach Artichoke dip w veggies, pumpkin muffins, and the items for my PBJ Overnight oats

Workout Planning

When I first started working out I had to take steps to build the habit. I would do things like set out my workout clothes in the morning, which is an act of removing friction. Then in the morning they are just there and I get ready, no thinking about it. You will hear some people talk about sleeping in their workout clothes. I have definitely done that too. Whatever it takes to make it easier, especially right when you are starting. Now I don't need to do that as much, but what I do each week (usually on Sunday) is plan my workouts for the following week. I get excited to do this now. I think about whatever goal I am focused on, and then plan my workouts around that. As I led up to Pelofondo I worked to increase time spent on the bike. Right now I am doing the Discover Your Power Zone plan, which is a 4 week program, so that is the base of my plans. Outside of that, I know that I want to continue to strengthen my core, legs, and arms, so I aim to have 4-5 days of core, and 3-4 days of legs/arms (I do 10 minutes on each). Sometimes I will do a 30 minute full body strength instead of the multiple 10 minute classes. Right now my overall goal is just to continue building my base of fitness so that when I start to focus in on specific training, I am ready.

Right now I plan my workouts on my "notes" app. I may move that to a planner/journal some day but for now this is working. Here is a bit of what is coming up next week. Overall, by planning this I simply pull it up each morning, and do what it says.

If you made it this far, congratulations. And thank you. You must really care about me <3. I could talk about these two items for hours because they are habits that I have that play a massive role in my success each week. Without meal planning we would eat frozen pizza each night. Without workout planning I would get completely overwhelmed by all the amazing content and choices that Peloton has (and it would get even worse when I get my Tread+) or get bored. By spending probably a combined 5 hours (meal planning, grocery shopping, meal prepping, workout planning) each weekend (I do realize that sounds like a lot, but considering we get about 16 waking hours in a day, and I spread these tasks across 2ish days...) I set myself up for a successful week. I avoid stress of being hungry but not having good choices, I avoid guilt of making choices that don't support my goals, and I am purposeful in my workouts, not putting stress on my body that doesn't help it improve. If you have something you want to achieve, take a look at what is stopping you. Want to drink more water? Find a water bottle you like and keep it by your side. Want to meal prep but feel overwhelmed by it? Start with 1 or 2 meals a week. If you analyze what is stopping you, you will be able to start to take steps to remove that friction and make progress M<3.

Thank you all for reading! I hope you have a wonderful week.