Struggles

You know that moment when you are starving and you're plan is to eat a salad, but you walk into a restaurant and are slapped in the face by the amazing sight and smell of EVERYTHING else that you know you shouldn't have? Yea....that's fun! Haha...

So how do you handle this situation normally? Do you put your blinders on and suffer through only to find yourself totally satisfied by your salad at the end of the meal? Or do you go ahead and open the menu and fantasize about a big juicy burger and a side of fries, followed by the battle of wills that you most often lose?

I don't want to admit how this plays out for me, but I will. It honestly depends on my level of determination. And I've come to realize that my level of determination is based on wether I've allowed myself enough food and water lately. If I'm depriving myself, which is easy to do without even realizing it, my chances of failure are significantly higher. Does that mean I change my ways so that I get it right every time? Heck no! I'm human....

This can be a vicious cycle, because the more you indulge, the more you crave. And at the same time, the more you constrict your calories, the more you crave.... So how do we fix it? We eat enough of the right foods, drink plenty of water, and get passed the first few days of detox so that the cravings are gone and you're in control. Sounds easy when you say it fast, right? I know!

So here's how the conversation with yourself needs to go when you're faced with temptation. You're probably saying "but it sounds so good! I really want it!" Well of course it sounds good.... And of course you want it.... So let's not even discuss this in the middle of temptation. The question you need to ask yourself is, "what will this do for me? And how will it affect my goals?"

It's so easy to reward yourself with food. "I've been good all week. I've been to the gym everyday. I've been eating rabbit food and I deserve a treat." Wrong! You can allow yourself a "cheat", but never ever reward yourself with food. There's a difference. Rewards are justified binges. Cheats are controlled indulgences.

I am nowhere near perfect. I have a sweet tooth like no other. I love French Fries. Pasta is amazing. Carbs in general are a weakness for me. I have a tendency to not eat enough throughout the day when I'm by myself. I get busy and just don't take the time to eat properly, which leads me to that feeling of starvation by the end of the day that results in failure.

This post is more of a rant about my own frustration and struggle, but I know many can relate. I don't pretend to get it all right, but I do strive to do my best so that the good outweighs the bad. So far it's working out for me ok, but I know I can do much better. And I know you can too.

What a great question to ask yourself..."what will this do for me?" What will eating 4 cookies do for your goals? How will affect all of the hard work you have done? What if you only had 1 instead? Wouldn't that be a good compromise? Can you eat just 1 and be done? This is the conversation we need to have with ourselves in the middle of temptation. Not the conversation about how good we've been, how hard we've worked, how good it sounds, and how much we deserve it.... We need to take control of the situation. If you're hungry, eat. But eat the right things. Not eating enough will cause you to crave heavy foods. Drink plenty of water. Dehydration can actually trigger hunger symptoms. Weirdly true!

So this is my blip on what frustrates me most..... Welcome to what I struggle with most. I'm sure you have related to this and maybe we all can strive to change these poor habits together. Maybe we need a "poor fitness decisions support group" haha. Hey! That actually could be a thing!

Good luck to all of us as we strive to be better! Email me if you need help, support, or just want to chat.... Lacysfitnessblog@gmail.com.