"See your situation as an opportunity, not an obstacle"

"See your situation as an opportunity, not an obstacle"

I love this quote and see it as an empowering reminder that we always have choices on how to view and deal with any situation in our lives.

We have all experienced minor and even major setbacks at some point - but I believe these occurrences are less of a "problem" or the "obstacle" than how we choose to cope with them.
It is only when we linger and dwell on these moments that may not have gone our way that we can really get stuck - especially when it comes to our health and fitness.

So many times I have heard clients, friends, and even family beat themselves up for "cheating" on their diets or for "missing a day at the gym" - they then allow these isolated situations to spiral into more days off from exercising and more self-sabotage with their eating.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, I encourage you to see your "time off from the gym" or "cheat day" not as a mistake or obstacle, but as an opportunity to learn more about yourself. By
helping yourself identify what's at the root of your behavior, you can then use your insight to armor yourself with new ways to deal with the situation that fit into your lifestyle.

For instance, if you stopped going to the gym because were you getting up too early, were bored with your routine, or perhaps setting unrealistic goals -then you can uncover better ways to make regular exercise work for your life.

If you were getting up too early - try breaking up your workout into smaller ones throughout the day - instead of getting up a half hour early to go for that walk or run, try doing 10 minutes of jump roping in the morning, a quick power walk at lunch, and another walk with the dog after dinner. You can still reap the benefits of cardio when it's split up with out wrecking your sleep. If you are bored with your routine, try taking a new class like spinning or working out with a friend a couple of times a week to break up the monotony. And, if your goals were too demanding, such as a going to the gym 7 days a week - try cutting back to 3 or 4 and slowly adding more so that you do not burn out, over-train, and swear off of the gym forever!!!

As far as eating goes, we all have many triggers that can drive us to overindulging and making less supportive choices. I find a food journal can help identify what is at the bottom of your eating and to help guide you back to making choices that are more supportive. While much of our eating can be emotionally driven, much of it can also be mindless....out of boredom for example, or simply just because it was there. So take your moment of divergence as a way to figure out what your eating is telling you, so that you can get back on track to eating the foods that nourish your body, mind, and soul - and always remember the key to a balanced diet is everything in moderation.