Eating Pitfalls To Avoid

Are you sabotaging your own goal?

“Oh sure, everyone always says to me, “Shaun, I swear, I eat very healthily. I have a clean diet.” But when people are experiencing “stubborn pounds” that won’t budge off their bodies, I see uncertainty and fear in their eyes when I say, “I bet it’s a common eating habit that is undermining your hard work.”
– Shaun T: creator of Insanity, FocusT25, and The Asylum 

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. It is way too easy to cheat on your own nutritional plan and not even be aware of it. Then comes frustration because you can’t figure out why those pesky pounds won’t leave despite all of your exercising. One of the best ways to fight this is to simply be aware of the cheat methods!

Here are some common ones:

1. Habit eating: This is when you have an activity that always has  food attached. Our bodies love routine and if we have a thing we do everyday that has a specific food attached to it then it is easy to look over.
Become Aware: A great way to become aware of whether or not you do this is to keep a food journal for a week. Track what you eat and see if you notice a pattern. A great app for this is MyFitnessPal.

2. Stress Eating: Need I say more? Food is comforting, I won’t argue that… BUT! There are much better ways to fight stress that last longer and don’t involve eating yourself silly.
Become Aware: My personal favorite is to go for a walk. Go out, breath deep, clear your head, stretch your legs and get your blood flowing. If it’s raining find a good “me-spot” in the house and have a stretch session. When movement won’t do it and my brain is set for chocolate… that’s when I go for the Chocolate Shakeology.

3. Nibbling: The all day grazing that is never noticed. A bite here, a cookie there, someone brought donuts to work, channel surfing munching, and hey you brought me a candy how nice.
Become Aware: See action step from #1. Also, having a structured eating plan is a great way to avoid the nibbles. I have found when I schedule my eating I don’t bother with nibbling because I know when my next meal is coming.

4. Over-Portioned: Restaurants do it so we get our $’s worth, family does it out of love, and we even do it to ourselves for whatever reason (for me it used to be not having to pack leftovers). We give ourselves way too much fuel that our body can’t burn off unless we were an olympian.
Become Aware: An easy go-to for portion size is the palm of your  hand and fist. Click HERE for an easy guide.

Take a closer look and see if your eating is getting in your way. Then become aware of how to take action!

Steps that make the DIFFERENCE

Pursuing Your Goal
 A goal is a huge, over-arching statement that sounds great and will get you going. However, words alone will only motivate you for, maybe, a few days? A few weeks? A great way to accomplish your goal is to position, prioritize, and have accountability.

1. Prioritize: “If it is important to you, you will FIND A WAY; if not you will find an EXCUSE.” – anonymous. Oddly enough, one of the most powerful things you can do for your goal is to start with a question. What is my WHY? You have to know what makes this goal important to you because that is what is going to keep you going when you don’t want to. Dig deeper than “because it’s what I want”. This is where you get to be that 5-year-old that exhausts others with that simple question “but why?”. An easy way to get to the bottom of your WHY is to have someone close to you be that 5-year old and help you dig.

2. Position: You have a goal! You have your WHY! Awesome! Now what? Sit down and reverse engineer your goal. What is going to get you there? You need a system of the “how’s” that are in bite size pieces.

Ex: I want to lose 40 pounds: HOW? > eat right and exercise > HOW? > meal plan, fitness routine, & accountability > HOW? > find a meal planner that works for you or develop a system that works for you >HOW? > find someone who has done it or google for an answer…etc.

Get the idea? It should honestly take 30 min to an hour to break your goal down. The purpose is to give yourself a game plan. It puts your goal in perspective and gives you the ability to chase after it without feeling overwhelmed. 

3. Accountability: It makes a DIFFERENCE when you have someone you HAVE TO ANSWER TO. It can be as simple as weekly/daily text, asking friends for accountability by publicly sharing your goal, or having a check in once a week. Whatever you do, share your WHY, and your game plan with them. Then, set up a specific time to check in every week. (Personal note: This has been vital in my own journey. I have a dear friend who I check in with every Friday for 30 min and we report our week’s checkpoints for our goals.)

What Am I doing?

Challenge yourself to change…

There are always those people you meet who get so much meaning out of their day. They are never bored with what they do and are always learning something. Why?

One word: Intentional
They are intentional about investing in themselves everyday. You cannot take care of others if you do not take care of yourself first.

Here are 3 things you can do that are GAME CHANGERS for the outcome of your day.

1. Personal Development reading: It’s wonderful when you find one of those quotes that make you think and perhaps go about your day a little bit differently. You have the ability to intentionally do that everyday. Find 15 minutes in your day to read a personal development book. You will be surprised at how much this can alter your day, job and relationships with others.
*Suggestions: Start by Jon Acuff, 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John Maxwell, PUSH by Chalene Johnson*

2. Heart and Study time with God: Yes, they are different. Find time to spend talking with God about your day. My personal preference is to journal…”God, yesterday was…” you get the idea. Also take the time to get into scripture and read. Reason? The same as personal development only deeper. You are intentionally growing your relationship with God. I have found the best option for me is to get a 20-ish minute devotional a day.
*Suggestion: http://www.thevillagechurch.net/resources/bibles-studies-classes/  or www.shereadstruth.com*

3. Exercise: Do something for 25-30 min a day that gets your heart-rate up. Squats during commercials, stairs instead of elevators, short fitness program, or a run interspersed with lunges. The options are endless, but all of them give you more energy, better sleep, and again intentional investment in yourself.
*Suggestions: FocusT25 or P90X3*

What’s the Deal with Breakfast?

Short answer. Eat up! Now, what to eat?

You hear everywhere… “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Turns out it is a true story. Studies show having a healthy daily breakfast assists your body in endless ways. I won’t bother you with the researched details because you could google it and find 29,800,000 results. However! To put it plainly… if you want to kickstart your metabolism you have to give it something to metabolize.

Now what to eat? Hear are some ideas that give solutions for the top excuses…
1. I don’t have time: Then let’s make it quick or get it ready the night before. Here are some walk out the door breakfasts…

• Morning Cereal: Layer non-fat greek yogurt, berries (or your favorite berries), chopped nuts, and organic high fiber cereal in a portable cup.
• Ezekiel Toast with Chia Seeds and Raisins: Toast, natural peanut butter, chia seed (for your get up & go), and raisins (or cranberries) for some sweetness. Bring a water bottle or be prepared to have your mouth glued until you get to work.

2. I’m on a diet: Then don’t sabotage yourself! Get your metabolism going with HEALTHY items. 

• Egg whites, nitrate-free low- sodium uncured bacon, 1 cup of fruit: A normal egg is fine but if it makes you uncomfortable or you have specific instructions from your doctor go for organic egg whites. Feel free to go for turkey bacon, but again make sure it is as natural as possible. Keep your fruit fresh! 
• Morning pizza: A personal favorite that I also use as a snack! Ezekiel toast, 1 sliced tomato, skim ricotta cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread, stack and enjoy!

3. I don’t feel like eating or drinking in the morning… my stomach is not used to it: Your body needs food… you have not eaten in probably 8-ish hours and if you did that during the day, you would be fairly useless. If you find that your stomach is sensitive then go for things that are gentle.

• Homemade oatmeal: A favorite recipe of mine is 1/2 cup organic oatmeal, 1/4 cup water or skim milk, dried fruit, pure maple syrup or honey. The beauty of oatmeal is that you can vary up the recipes. 
• Spinach omelet: 2 egg omelet with spinach (dairy is optional) and take it easy on the seasonings. 

My honest answer that I could have listed under all 5 categories: Shakeology.  It has been a part of my daily routine for 3 years now and It is the healthiest meal I have. It fills me up, gives me energy, replaces my multivitamin, and takes 1 minute to make…including clean-up!
When you throw something together that is optimum nutrition, whole foods, includes superfoods, and has NOTHING artificial in it… you can bet the farm that I am going to be all over it!

*Word of warning… other meal replacement shakes are NOT equal… most of them are sugar, empty carbs, and chemicals.