Today I incorporated a cheat meal into the Cavegirl Challenge, but it came with a giant warning (or rant?).
Here's the deal on cheat meals and eating for long-term health, from my POV...
Step One - Put the Fucking Stick Down!!
I'm not a fan of 'rewarding' myself with food so I'm careful how I frame 'cheat' meals. I believe that most, if not all, humans are emotional eaters to a certain extent. If we train our mind to think food is about deserving or not deserving we're headed down a path of either over or under eating. Not good, right!?
(This turned into a rant so I need to add a disclaimer)
LANGUAGE IS NOT SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE.
SORRY I JUST GET FIRED UP ABOUT THIS STUFF...
AND MAY HAVE BEEN A SAILOR IN A PAST LIF
E.
So you're going along, following your nutrition plan, working out, doing all the right things and then a night out with friends and you drink, or eat a piece of pizza or birthday cake, or whatever! Life happens Cavegirls, and picking up your stick and beating yourself with it won't change it - so, seriously, put the stick down. Give yourself permission to slip up once in awhile. I know this one well by the way and use the 'put-the-fucking-stick-down' mantra often. Bottom line - pick your battles and be gentle with yourself!
Step Two - Avoid The Trap
Step one is NOT about giving yourself permission to slip up ALL of the time, but when you do. STOP. Reflect. What is the lesson? How can you make the next meal a healthy one? DO NOT let one slip up ruin your whole day, week, month, ... I used to do the whole - I'll restart on Monday, or the New Year, or on the next full moon - whatever. That's bullshit and does not work. Always pull yourself back to NOW. You mess up on one meal, you make sure the next one is a good one.
Step Three - Frame for Long-Term Health
Step 4 - Don't call it a frickin' DIET!
I hate that 4-letter word. I spent too much of my life wasting time and hurting myself with diets. This is about a healthy long-term lifestyle. Not a diet. I put together this 30-day challenge to help you get in the groove of healthy eating. It's okay to put a time limit to help you fine-tune but not okay to only do it for 30 days if you're just going to go back to your old ways. Don't waste your time!
Step one is NOT about giving yourself permission to slip up ALL of the time, but when you do. STOP. Reflect. What is the lesson? How can you make the next meal a healthy one? DO NOT let one slip up ruin your whole day, week, month, ... I used to do the whole - I'll restart on Monday, or the New Year, or on the next full moon - whatever. That's bullshit and does not work. Always pull yourself back to NOW. You mess up on one meal, you make sure the next one is a good one.Step Three - Frame for Long-Term Health
I had a conversation not too long ago with someone who is trying to lose some weight. Her trainer has her eating a wacky diet. I'm NOT a nutritionist or trainer, but I'm lucky enough to have a great one supporting me that I've learned a ton from, so when I hear stupid shit like this I get fired up.
Her diet is 6 days of perfection and 1 day of bingeing. HOW IS THAT HEALTHY?! When I first started on this journey I had the same sort of setup - a cheat day. I then worked up to a cheat meal. Here's the lesson - after a short while I realized that I didn't want to cheat. Cheating hurt and made me feel uncomfortable so I just stopped. Now most of my "cheat meals" consist of paleo-friendly foods. Once in awhile I eff' up when I need a reminder of why I eat this way. Nothing like a day of agony to fix that!
This trainer has taken this concept and twisted it. She's encouraged her client to eat as many calories as possible in this one day and to get these calories from shit food.When I asked her if she was allowed to eat healthy if she chose, she said no, she HAS to binge. What the fuck? This is NOT healthy and especially NOT ideal for long-term health.
Step 4 - Don't call it a frickin' DIET!
I hate that 4-letter word. I spent too much of my life wasting time and hurting myself with diets. This is about a healthy long-term lifestyle. Not a diet. I put together this 30-day challenge to help you get in the groove of healthy eating. It's okay to put a time limit to help you fine-tune but not okay to only do it for 30 days if you're just going to go back to your old ways. Don't waste your time! I was in a bookstore the other day, and I asked the clerk to help me find Everyday Paleo. He was having trouble finding it and the other clerk said under her breath, "I think it's another one of those diet books." UGH! Yes, you'll find it in that section, but this is NOT a diet, it's a way of eating for life. It's about eating what your body was designed to eat and about feeling GREAT, and not just for a certain amount of days, but ALWAYS!
Step 5 - Recognize a Cheat
Just because it's called Paleo doesn't mean it's good! I'm a bit of an information-junkie. I love learning. Or is that just called dorky? ;-)
Step 5 - Recognize a Cheat
Just because it's called Paleo doesn't mean it's good! I'm a bit of an information-junkie. I love learning. Or is that just called dorky? ;-) A few months ago, I was reading through some Paleo discussion boards and came across an interesting post (which I can't seem to find today to send you but when I do I'll post a link). It was a person who had recently decided to try Paleo and was getting quite ill. The others on the board were trying to get to the bottom of it - and finally found out that this person was eating between 4-6 Paleo muffins a day!! Cavemen and women did NOT eat that many nuts especially in the form of muffins.
These Paleo-friendly foods are good and evil all mixed into one! They should be considered a good "cheat" and should be only consumed once in awhile. These types of foods Paleo muffins, pancakes, cookies, etc... will help you avoid the bad shit at times but stick to the basics as much as possible... meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, and seeds - you know the good stuff!
0 comments:
Post a Comment