It’s cliche but it’s true... abs are made in the kitchen not in gym. I don’t even do ab exercises anymore because I hate them so much. I’d rather eat myself skinny than attempt to do one more crunch or superman. Consider me #TeamNoCrunch!
In order to get the body we really want we HAVE to eat right. There is no way around it. When I change my eating habits I honestly hate calling them diets. Diets sounds so temporary. It’s more of an eating lifestyle ← Gawsh, that sounded so pretentious, but you guys get it.
4 Reasons We Fail at Diets
Sometimes when we change the way we eat we may slack and then totally fall off, but today I want to give you four potential reasons why you are slacking on your new eating lifestyle and how to overcome it.
1.) We Give Ourselves No Room to Mess Up
Listen, changing an eating habit is not an easy one. Especially in the culture we that we live in today. Sometimes we mess up and we become so discouraged that we just stop because we see our slip up as a sign of failure. Now we so need to consider our slip up an L… not as in lose, but as in lesson. For example, you decided that you just HAD to have that bag of cookies from the vending machine because you body was in desperate need of that 3PM sugar rush. After about 15 minutes you fall from that cookie high and then the guilts kicks in your. You then start mentally beating yourself up. Stop doing that.
How to Fix this? Make sure you load up on snacks. If you are craving something sweet then make sure you bring two already pre-sliced apples. You will find that the apples do appease the sugar cravings. If you are craving something salty then pack a bag of almonds. Almonds are full of nutrients and will satisfy the salt cravings you are having.
2.) Our Cheat Meals Turn Into Cheat Months
I’m not a fan of the cheat meal philosophy. There are studies on studies that show that cheat meals are important to your fitness journey but I feels as though in the beginning of the journey (the first 90 days) you should hold off on that cheat meal.
How to fix this? It has been noted that it takes about 66 days to form a new habit. In my opinion during the first 3 months you should not have a cheat meal to help form a healthy habit.
How to fix this? Meal prepping. Meal Prep can be done a number of ways. One of my FAVORITE Youtubers to watching when it comes to meal prepping is BakingMadGymAddict because her food is fun, healthy, and not boring. There are two ways to meal prep. You can do the once a week thing or you can meal prep twice a week. Even though it’s more work I do prefer the twice a week option because I can change my food up. Sometimes eating the same meals over and over again during the week can be boring. For me, not having a variety does not aid in my healthy eating. I tend to self-sabotage because I just need something a little different. The once a week pattern does works because if you are a busy professional you have very little time to spend in the kitchen so knocking your meals out once a week on a Sunday may be a good option for you.
3.) We Don’t Know What Healthy Food to Pick out at Restaurants
The hardest part of the healthy eating journey is not knowing what to eat at a restaurant. I myself hate buying salads from a restaurants. Really, why do I want to spend $15 on a dayum wedge of iceburg lettuce? I mean have eating establishments gotten so lazy they can't chop up the leafs anymore? I digress.
How to fix this: When dining out i would stay away from any plates that have heavy creams and cheeses. Also, If you are going for dinner see if they can give you lunch sized portion instead. This helps because you are not eating as much AND your ticket may be a couple of dollars cheaper.
4.) We Weight Ourselves Too Early
When starting a new eating and fitness regime we should wait at least 60 days before getting on a scale. If we get on a scale everyday or even once a week we could get discouraged because we don’t see the scale reflecting the work we are putting into to lose weight.
How to fix this? I highly suggest staying away from the scale for many reasons. The main one being that in the first 2 months your body is still trying to become acclimated to your new fitness habit. With that the body is still adjusting itself and the weight will fluctuate up and down. Instead measure your body in inches. This works better because you can see where you are loosing fat and gaining muscle. Remember that sometimes the scale will reflect a weight but it can’t reflect the muscle to fat. Muscle takes up less volume than fat so that’s why you can still weigh the same but you body can look completely different.
Remember that weight lose is a journey not a destination. I know… i’m heavy with the cliches this week. Don’t get discourage for making a mistake or the scale not giving you a number you want to see. Instead focus on the inches and making your new eating and fitness regime a habit for a happy and fit life.
