Most people don’t realize how poorly they have been eating until they eat well. I get many clients who report feeling more rested, less bloated, and energized after eating better quality foods for a few days. I give them very small adjustments to make in their lifestyle, and the outcome makes them feel and look better.
Your eating habits (or what we would call your diet) can be a means to a fat loss goal, or can be interpreted as evil process that drains your personal energy and motivation. Most, hear the word ‘diet’ and equate that with ‘restriction’. The goal is to see your eating choices as a lifestyle and not a diet. This way you can keep incorporating indulges into your lifestyle, and remain in line with your fitness goals.
Getting to this point where it is just your ‘lifestyle’ is a process, is one that requires patience, planning, adherence, and time.
I must be clear – IF you are considering losing a few pounds and find entertaining the idea of ‘dieting’ mentally draining, I don’t think you are in the proper mindset. You have to be open to the possibility of a lifestyle shift before you can begin the journey. There is no ‘perfect’ diet – they all work. It is the individual who needs to be ready to make the commitment to success. If you are not willing to commit, and make some changes – YOU are not ready.
The first thing that trips people up is patience. Everyone wants everything NOW! Well you did not learn to walk in a week, and you were not successful in your career overnight, so I am not sure how you expect to ‘get’ the lifestyle shift in 12 weeks (ahem 84 days). Some might get a ‘base’ knowledge, and maybe some good fat loss/muscle gain, but unless you have been practicing for a while it won’t stick.
Practice will always make for better performance. You need to think of how many times you practiced riding a bike before you could do it without THINKING. I have had clients complain about how they always have to ‘think’ about eating, rather than just eat what is offered to them. Not considering WHAT you are eating get many into a +X number of pounds situation. You need to put forth the effort, and practice making better choices day by day, so that it becomes an ingrained habit.
Creating good eating habits with a plan is easier to follow than no plan. The effort required to avoid those foods that contribute to weight gain, can be tough to break, especially if you have been off track for a very long time. Going from eating whatever, whenever, (spontaneous eating), to planned feeding (structured plan) is a huge shift in lifestyle, mental focus, and commitment. Any change, small or large does require commitment to see the change through. The first steps seems the toughest, but coming out on the other side of it never seems as bad as when you are going through the adjustment. This means you might have to plan/cook your meals in advance. You will eat anyways, and taking an extra 5 minutes to ‘think’ about what you are going to eat for the day is not that much extra time spent on something that will be good for you long term.
There are times when you will have to make adjustment in your social situations in order to get results. Weekends seem to be quite troublesome for many when it comes to staying on track.
You know how the story goes – you get in a few good days of solid meals, and then wham! The weekend hits, you get invited to so and so’s house on Saturday, and you are offered a beer, and then there are chips on the table, so you think to yourself – I will get back on track tomorrow. Well, Sunday ends up being a celebratory BBQ at a friend’s cottage. So you skip breakfast thinking you are saving your calories for the BBQ, AND you have not gotten in your workout for the day. You convince yourself that you will be working out at the cottage since you will be walking a lot, so you blow off your scheduled training and replace it with poor eating because by the time you hit the BBQ you are so hungry that you eat many of the appetizers provided before the BBQ meal has even started.
Monday is always a good day to start a diet, right?
Changing your lifestyle is not just about clocking in on Monday and checking out Friday at noon. If you want some good solid results in a reasonable period of time, you are going to have to throw in the weekends and stay on track 90% of your meals to see some REAL changes in your physique. Adherence to the plan is essential to seeing fat loss success. Everyone wants results quickly but no one wants to stop putting those foods that contribute to the weight gain in their mouths.
Five out of 7 days is only 71% clean eating. If we look at it per meal per week, or, 6 meals per day X 7 days = 42 meals. So at 90% that leaves = 37.8 meals you have to hit – or else – 4-5 meals that you can sort of go off track. I say ‘sort of’ as you can overeat many calories in one meal alone. Enjoying one meal out is one thing, but when it turns into a one, two or weekend of free eating, your progress will be nada or even regress.
Here is a 4 part series on some strategies to help you get back on track fast. —>;Click here<;——
Lastly, a timeline cannot be put on when you are going to ‘get it’. That moment which you no longer have to think about what you are going to eat, and just ‘do it’. Some will understand what needs to be done in 12 weeks, some 6 months, and some it will take years. Putting pressure on you to eat perfectly all day everyday is really setting yourself up with an unrealistic expectation. To err is human. And you are human. Mistakes are a great opportunity to learn, adjust, and move on. When encountering the same situation again, you will know how to handle it.
If you are ready to make the change, I am ready to help guide you. Feel free to contact me at allisonethier@me.com if you have any questions about my services.
You are your best investment. Today is a great day to get started as TIME waits for no one.
A.
