When the day’s aren’t easy, life still keeps going. We all learned early on that even when we are having a rough day, everything seems to keep the pace whether or not we have the energy to follow along. Some days I feel like I just can’t keep up. Especially when I am transitioning back to working the day shift. I think shift work could drain my energy even if I was a perpetual  motion machine.

Some days I’m just along for the ride. Those days are where the habit of a healthy lifestyle are what keeps me on track more than my motivation.

Motivation and determination are great tools, and while both are needed to help you get settled into a healthy new lifestyle, there will come a day where those aren’t enough to carry you through. Finding what routines, and structure you can build into your life to help keep you on course are vital to continue living the lifestyle you believe in instead of settling back into older, more familiar routines.

I’m not perfect, and I definitely have less than perfect bad days, but a lot of people let a few bad days take them back to their old lifestyles. Don’t let a bad day derail you. Learn how to plan for bad days. And when a bad day is done, let it act as motivation to pick you self up can carry on rather than using it as an excuse for more bad behavior.

Here are some of the things I do to keep living a healthy life.

#1 Keep Your Kitchen Stocked Well. It may be hard to keep out unhealthy food if you are living with other less health minded people, but you can make sure you have a nice stock of healthy food to pick from. When I reach for less than ideal snacks is when I don’t have my shelves stocked and am reaching into QB’s goodies. When QB is away from time to time, I can keep my kitchen all health all the time and everything is so much easier. If you are around unhealthy food because you live with others, always make sure you have your own healthy options.

#2 Build a Healthy Recipe Arsenal. Find or create recipes for all types of meals and snacks. I tend to rotate through the same types of recipes because I like them, and it is easy. Easy being the key word here. Make sure you have enough variation, and definitely find new recipes occasionally, but when you are busy and don’t have time to find some neat new dish, you can just pick some easy healthy favorite so you can go on with your healthy life.

#3 Find New Comfort Foods. At times we all want to reach for comfort food. Many years ago, my idea of comfort food was drastically different than what I consider it to be now. These comfort foods may not be prefect examples of healthy foods, but if you are moving from Twinkies to Luna bars I would consider that a step in the right direction. My sorbet I eat every day is a comfort food for me, but it also functions as a healthy meal. Win, win!! Now that’s what I’m taking about! Same with my new Peach & Pumpkin Chia pudding.

#4 Enjoy Everything You Eat! Don’t eat foods you consider boring and bland just because they are healthy. This will put you on the fast track to an unhealthy relapse. This is especially true for CR people. When you are eating less, you need to get more out of it. I think this is why I went from eating a lot of raw food in the spring to being an oatmeal addict. I wasn’t enjoying my food enough, and life was really stressful with my illness, and I just snapped. I’m just now able to break my oatmeal fixation. Granted, I could have done worse than oatmeal, but you get the idea. And learn to use herbs and spices! I have quite the spice rack, and I’m not afraid to use it. :-p

#5 Know When to Loosen Up. This in a way applies to my post yesterday about restaurant eating. If you don’t do it very often, it may be a good idea to loosen up and allow yourself a treat every now and then. It’s best to allow yourself a break when you’re in a situation you won’t be in very often – that way it cannot turn into a bad habit. Maybe this would apply to eating with family during the holidays, or eating out on a road trip. Situations like these already come with extra pressure, and would be a good opportunity for a break. But! Don’t feel like you have to, if you like where you are, just keep on keepin’ on. :-)

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For me, all these things help keep me on track when my motivation and determination aren’t quite up to snuff. It’s frustrating when life is chaotic and stressful, but if you make health a habit, it will become second nature.

I think at this point I would have to try to be unhealthy. I am so ingrained into a healthy routine, that I would have to think about how to be a “normal unhealthy” person. Ha. Sometimes my hard days get the better of me, but over all I still get the best of them. That’s what counts.

Yesterday was a fairly normal food day. My hunger led me to the peanut butter jar, but I keep that around for “emergencies”. Day shift munchies can turn into a serious problem if I don’t pick wisely. The peanut butter seemed to help satisfy, and my overall daily intake was low enough where it didn’t hurt.

Food for November 11th 2010.

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Brazil Nut (17)
Carrot + Kale + Ginger Juice (137)
Seasoned Scrambled Tofu (225)
Thai Yellow Curry & Vegetables (250)
Peach & Pumpkin Chia Pudding (234)
Hempilicious Berry Sorbet (330)
* 120g Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
* 240g Unsweetened Vanilla Hemp Milk
* 240g Strawberries, Frozen
* 120g Blueberries, Frozen
* 15g Hemp Protein Powder
* 5.5g Flax Oil
* Stevia
2T Organic Peanut Butter

===========================================
Nutrition Summary for November 11, 2010
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.7
===========================================

General (90%)
===========================================
Energy               |  1381.1 kcal   104%
Protein              |    60.7 g      107%
Carbs                |   163.6 g       84%
Fiber              |    47.4 g      190%
Starch             |     6.5 g       43%
Sugars             |    65.1 g      130%
Fat                  |    60.5 g      129%

Vitamins (100%)
===========================================
Vitamin A            | 87805.5 IU    1756%
Lutein+Zeaxanthin  | 35341.8 µg     707%
Folate               |   508.3 µg     282%
B1 (Thiamine)        |     2.5 mg     229%
B2 (Riboflavin)      |     2.9 mg     225%
B3 (Niacin)          |    27.4 mg     183%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)|    17.0 mg     341%
B6 (Pyridoxine)      |     3.2 mg     202%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) |    52.9 µg    2643%
Vitamin C            |   442.0 mg     737%
Vitamin D            |  3711.5 IU    1856%
Vitamin E            |    20.8 mg     173%
Vitamin K            |   822.9 µg     914%

Minerals (100%)
===========================================
Calcium              |  1852.7 mg     185%
Copper               |     2.2 mg     108%
Iron                 |    14.5 mg      97%
Magnesium            |   699.3 mg     219%
Manganese            |     5.2 mg     131%
Phosphorus           |  1178.3 mg     168%
Potassium            |  3741.7 mg     107%
Selenium             |    91.1 µg     166%
Sodium               |  1421.9 mg     284%
Zinc                 |    13.6 mg     113%

Amino Acids (100%)
===========================================
CYS                  |     0.7 g      312%
ILE                  |     2.4 g      213%
LEU                  |     3.8 g      173%
LYS                  |     2.9 g      167%
MET                  |     0.7 g      120%
PHE                  |     2.5 g      258%
THR                  |     2.7 g      319%
TRP                  |     0.8 g      333%
TYR                  |     1.8 g      380%
VAL                  |     2.7 g      158%

Lipids (70%)
===========================================
Saturated            |    13.8 g       69%
Monounsaturated      |    12.7 g       51%
Polyunsaturated      |    25.6 g      103%
Omega-3            |     8.4 g      760%
Omega-6            |    11.9 g      109%
Cholesterol          |     0.0 mg       0%