Wait, what day is it today? Is it Tuesday? Or another Friday, or?
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Man, when this stay-at-home thing started, it was so disorienting.
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One day I was getting up at 5am, seeing my first client at 6am, the next there was no schedule at all.
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This coincided with some mercifully warm & sunny weather here in Seattle, which added to the ‘vacation-like’ feel of those first couple of weeks.
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Enter Stay-at-Home Weight Change Factor #5: Evening adult beverages may have become routine—like vacation every day.
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With very little structure for the kids’ schooling and no work structure at all plus added stress, we slipped into vacation mode: having a cool adult beverage in the afternoon to just chill out together, then having another at dinner, then maybe another after dinner, because hey, what was there to get up early for anymore?
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Maybe you can relate to this feeling.
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Those tasty, refreshing and easily-consumed calories can add up fast.
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Not to mention that drinking alcohol can be a major sleep disruptor and can make us pretty indiscriminate about snacking at night, too.
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Yup, the first couple of weeks of quarantine were like that...until I realized what I was doing and came up with solutions.
**Maybe one or more of these can work for you, too!**
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1. Start treating weekdays like workdays again:
*set my alarm,
*get up at a decent time,
*have a morning/breakfast routine,
*have a project to work on.
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2. Revisit the ‘Zero to 1’ rule on weekdays: either I had zero adult beverages of I could have 1.
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3. Work out or walk the dogs in the late afternoon—this is always an effective way to relax, unwind and get some happy brain chemistry going so adult beverages aren’t so appealing and the ‘Zero to 1’ rule was easier to stick to.
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4. Remember that I don’t enjoy wearing those extra drink calories around my waist (which is exactly where they go!).
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It’s about being more aware of our tendencies so we can be intentional, rather than accidental or incidental, with our choices!
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When we know better, we do better.
Go us!
Any of these strategies resonate with you?
Or do you have your own strategies for keeping adult beverages in moderation?
Love to hear your thoughts.
Comment below or shoot me a message: [email protected]
We're in it together...all the way.