Basically...here's what I did...in my Fit Book, they have a chart at the beginning of every week for your food goals/meal planning on the bottom half of the page, with a fitness plan mapped out at the top of the page.
I now have a game plan of what food to prep on what night, and how I am going to incorporate my workouts in with my schedule. It helped me to see the week in an over view and set a goal for this week.
I set a "reward" for myself, which could be anything...but I choose food and wine! Each week if I hit my goals I get my reward! It's 1 bag of popcorn and a glass of wine on Sunday nights.
We have to be realistic about what we expect from ourselves. On one of the episodes of Better Everyday, the hosts and their guest were discussing "bumper foods" and "trigger foods".
Bumper foods are foods that we enjoy and treat ourselves too without going completely over board. Trigger foods are the foods we can't stop eating once we have just 1. This sort of covers the whole "SHOULD I GIVE INTO THIS CRAVING?" If you've had 3 days of clean eating and suddenly you're hit hard with a chocolate bar carving...well...if you can stick to just 1 or 2 squares go for it. However, if you think it'll lead you down a rabbit hole of 2 candy bars, 1 ice cream dilly, 4 gummy worms, and a small bag of Cheetos...best to skip the craving and find something else to eat.
Popcorn is a bumper food for me. Chocolate is my trigger food. Not to say that I can't have the chocolate, I just should do so sparingly and once I've reached a goal.
Sunday night, I opted out of my popcorn and wine snack as I had eaten a few cookies earlier in the day that I hadn't planned on. However instead of looking forward to popcorn and wine, I was drinking water. Then when my friend pulled out a big bag of m&m's and I couldn't stop myself, I went back for 3 small servings...ugh, just talking about it makes me want to pull all the chocolate out of the freezer and go to town on dessert.
This is why...even though I had 3 cookies earlier in the day, I should have just had my popcorn and wine. Then I wouldn't have over eaten on the m&m's and I wouldn't have put my hormones in jeopardy with the soy and dairy that are found in them.
Striving for progress and not perfection. I don't want to have to moderate my food every single day for the rest of my life and I certainly don't want to be staring at a bar code app when I'm 80 to figure out what I can and can't eat. What I want is to figure out how to live a happy, healthy, balanced lifestyle.
I don't know about you but I have a very bad habit of turning to food as a stress reliever. Using chocolate to ease my heartache, pasta to fill the emptiness.
Food can also be joyous though! Birthday cake, champagne, hot cup of coffee with a friend, rich savory dinner with a loved one. These are times to enjoy what God has given us, to celebrate. It's just a very careful balance back to where I want to be. I'm getting there, one step at a time. I hope you are too.
Set a goal for this week, identify what your trigger foods and bumper foods are. (Full disclosure the word might be buffer...anyway!) Set out your weekly meal plan and don't forget to treat yourself!
Relax with a favorite latte, have a nightcap, single serving of cake whatever will keep you motivated towards that next goal.
We have to retrain our brains to what we need, not what we want. I need to stop eating so much sugar due to my PCOS. What I want is dessert. Which I will have...just not tonight. SOON THOUGH! This week the wine and popcorn will be consumed on Saturday for a movie date with Iron Woman, WOOT!!
Alright friends, I am gonna get out of here.
I hope you all had a Monday that didn't feel like a "Monday"
Blessings,
A
P.s. I promise to talk about my supplements this week...I think I finally got them figured out lol!
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