What is harder? Training or diet? Without even thinking twice, the most difficult aspect of health and fitness is the dreaded four letter word: DIET. Why is it so hard for people to grasp the concept of “dieting” and not starving themselves? Too many people fall into a yo-yo trap of starvation, binging, and regret. Well I have a HUGE tip for you, learn to practice that skill. What I mean is practice how to diet effectively. You don’t expect to get stronger at lifting if you don’t lift heavy do you? The same works for dieting. You have to practice in order to be successful long term.
How can you practice this skill? It’s actually pretty easy and simple to start doing and soon enough those will become habits.
-Choose the system of food timing that works for YOU. For me, eating 6 meals a day is just not going to happen. So I choose to eat 4 throughout the day. You might work better will small meals 6 times a day or even 3 big ones. Whatever you choose, stick to those times to eat and don’t stray. Get in good habit of eating at those times on a regular basis.
-Having a hard time with the sugar cravings? You might want to learn to cut out those foods for just 30 days. Your body will start to adapt to this switch and you can start feeding it quality foods to fill that void. If one month sounds a bit daunting, try doing it for a week !
-Learn self control. This might be the one that takes the MOST practice but you need it in times of desperation. We all have the one food that you can literally eat all of it if placed in front of you. For me it’s peanut butter. In order to learn how to not go crazy with the portions I learned to have self control when a craving hit. I learn to how I can mentally talk myself out of it and guess what the craving usually goes away !
Using the above tricks can come in handy when you are out and don’t have the best food options with you. You will have the power of your mind and self control to really knock out those cravings and start to transition to a healthier way of life!