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It's easy to get frustrated when it comes to health and nutrition. We try so hard to follow a healthy eating plan. We work out as much as we can. We try to do all the "right" things, and sometimes they work for a while until they don't. At that point it's easy to just give up and skip the workout, stay up late eating popcorn and ice cream, and have that extra margarita with your friends. You get down on yourself, you feel like nothing will ever work, and you're resigned to holding on to that Covid 19 that you gained over the last couple of years.
For me it often happens after I've lost a few pounds during the week, then go out for dinner and drinks Saturday night. Sunday morning I wake up having gained back everything I lost, and sometimes more. Was it the wine? The salad with cheese and questionable ingredients? Was it the little piece of bread I snuck from the bread basket, thinking that one little slice wouldn't hurt?
Instead of getting angry at myself, I try to flip it. I take a look at my choices and use it as a learning experience. If I drank wine and then woke up with hot flashes, well there you go. Try a different drink next time. If I had dessert or bread and woke up inflamed and puffy, bingo! No surprise there. The flip side is that I'm paying attention and learning about my body. I'm gathering the evidence I need to make better choices and lasting changes. Yes, the cheesecake was delicious, but was it worth the undoing of the previous five days? And I should have stopped much sooner when my stomach almost immediately told me it was going to be a problem.
You may not agree, but I really feel like 80% of how I feel in my body has to do with what I put into it. Yes, exercise is my biggest anchor habit, and keeps me strong and sane, sleep affects how I function throughout the day, but food wins the prize when it comes to immediate results.
I also know that I love food and love to taste different things. When we are out for dinner I like to taste my husband's beer or a have a French fry or two from his plate just because I'm curious about how they taste. I don't like to drink a full beer myself because I know how bloated it will make me feel. And I won't order a full plate of fries for myself because--well hopefully by now I don't have to explain.
The real trouble is when we're in a place where I know they have the best chocolate croissants (Paris!) or my favorite deep dish pizza (Great Plains Sauce and Dough Co.!), or my mom made rhubarb pie just for me. It's hard to turn down because I know these things don't come around very often. Instead of letting them open a gateway to eating all the things, the trick is to taste them once and then move on. There's no multiplying the problem by pairing them with a latte or a sugary cocktail, or letting it become an issue of "I just need to eat all of this so it's not around to tempt me anymore." I also don't want to fall into the mindset of "I'll eat as much as I want right now because once I get home I'll get back to basics." Does this sound familiar, or am I the only one who has had this relationship to food?
Food is so good! And it's not something we can just quit cold turkey, like cigarettes or whiskey. It's all around us and it's something we have to make choices about several times a day. We just have to pay attention and keep learning new things about our body to inform our choices tomorrow.
So try tracking what you eat for a while. Use an app, keep a list, or journal about it each day. You might be surprised what you learn!
I'd love to talk to you about the program, so book a free consultation with me by clicking the Calendly button. I look forward to talking to you!
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