So I first noticed this with my general mood. Some people end there day and find themselves energized and feeling great. I basically start at a full tank of good will and cheer and as the day goes on and I keep interacting with people that ability to be in a good mood is constantly chipped away. I am not an extrovert. Interpersonal intersection is draining for me. This isn't because I don't like the people I am with or the interactions are bad, it's because I refuel in solitude. I don't just like being alone I need it. Like most people after a long enough time I want some interaction, i just want less, and certainly don't have to have it. My wife is typically on the other side. Give her the right people and that tank fills right back up, but start talking to me late in the day after I've had to deal with people then you can get out of my face.
The thing that sucks about this is that the dial on all my negative habits tends to get turned up at the same time. I should stretch, I should lift, I shouldn't eat garbage, but as I sit here I know that when I hit a certain point of frustration it doesn't matter how much I know what's good for me, I am actively going after that bad stuff. I am mad, I am in a dark mood, and I am ready to be self destructive. Part of that destruction is my constant battle with sugar addiction (I wont go full blown side plot on that now, but I think I need to hash that out at some point). So knowing that I am like this what do I do?
First things first. Have a preventative plan. Always plan for victory, if you know your enemies weaknesses draw up a plan and combat them in those areas. The enemy in this scenario is me. There are a lot of studies out there that point to working out in the evening being one of the best times to really push yourself to see the most benefit for your effort. However, if you find that it is hard to get motivated later in the day, so you skip 3 out of 6 of those workouts, or you dog it so hard you might as well have, you, like me, are probably going to get more for your time if you get your butt out of bed first thing and just get that workout behind you. If I waited till the afternoon to workout that is like 8 hours of time I have given my brain to convince me I need another rest day, forget that crap, get up, get moving, and get it in the bank. You can argue with yourself about that afternoon workout when it consists of auxiliary lifts and mobility.
Second. Food. I hate diet. There was a runner (might have been an Iron Man dude, but whatever) who said "That if the engine burns hot enough it doesn't matter what you put in it." This is both true and false on a lot of levels. From a straight up weight gain metric, yes if you burn enough calories to be in a deficit you are going to lose weight regardless if if you eat 4000 calories of kale (kill me) or McGangbangs (this is a thing and it's delicious and it's not what you think), however you are not going to perform well on either of those diets. Balance and nutrition is what you need, not to much not to little, blah blah blah. That runner had to find that out the hardest way when he ended up very injured and unable to run for a long time. He radically changed his McDiet to something more nutritious to maintain weight while he was bed ridden and when he started training again he noticed a marked difference in performance.. Screw that guy. I want to eat McDoubles with no bun, call myself full Keto and Power Clean 315. It's not going to happen, but a man can dream. Wow, I went all over the place there. To get back on track, what I am saying is be mindful of what you are putting in your fridge as much as your body. I am really good about eating really good until 2 things happen. 1st, if I am angry and it's late I just suck, I think that is honestly going to require therapy, my latent masochism manifests in all sorts of destructive ways. The second and very manageable problem arises when I let my quality options run out. I know when i am running low on eggs, I should buy more before I am out, same with kale, and whey, and broccoli, and all the simple options I keep handy for when I am lazy. So muscles need fuel to grow, that's a fact. What my brain is really great at doing is deciding some fuel is better than no fuel, and if all I have at 9pm on a Thursday is a bag of pizza rolls, and frozen chicken breasts, I am eating those pizza rolls. It's late I need sleep, chicken takes time, I'm tired.... I am an expert in self deceit, make sure you keep quick options around and don't just eat them all first. I do that a lot too.
3rd, get mental with it. I wont tell everyone to meditate, but take time to build up your mental programming. Take time to go over what you want in your head. When you fail take the time to examine why. In the realm of food safety (my old job, and a big part of my current job) there is a concept known as corrective actions. It's pretty much a given in that field that things are going to go wrong, it's not about being perfect it's about what you do when something happens. I think the same methodology is valid here. Ok, so you failed, maybe you failed a lot. Why? What happened? What lead to it? Find the root cause, figure out what lead up to it. Was it conflict with a person, was it fighting, was it not having the right food options available, was it not scheduling the workout? Then react to it. Find solutions for the failure, find new ways to combat your failings. It's not about being perfect, it's about being better. Not being better than me, or a super model, or Rich Froning, but being better than who you used to be. Find a way to take the you, you knew last year at make that person better. Then just keep doing that.
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