This week at Wickedbodz, we kicked off another one of our 40Days2Fit challenges. I wanted to know exactly what my challengers were going through, so I decided to follow the exact plan and all the advice that I give to them, and clamp down on my diet (and exercise, but I already do plenty so that didn’t really change)
It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but it definitely helped me to understand some of the mental battles that people go through, and more importantly how to overcome them. And after only one week, I’ve lost nearly 2kg…
>> It’s ok to be hungry. Ok, so it’s not the most comfortable feeling and I don’t recommend that you are should feel like you are constantly starving, but you don’t need to go running for the fridge as soon as you feel it. In fact, I think it’s a good exercise some people should try for a couple of days; don’t eat unless you’re really hungry – like feeling sick and stomach hurting kind of hungry – rather than just eating because it’s meal time. This helps to understand and calculate portion sizes, many people eat just because it’s meal time and eat too much, so over a whole day it adds to a lot more calories than what was required, and difficulty losing weight. Our bodies are actually capable of surviving for weeks and months without food, so an hour or few until you can get to a healthy meal or snack is really not going to kill you. Don’t give in to the junk food because you feel “I just have to eat something”. You don’t.
>> With that said, Be Prepared, with healthy handbag / car snacks / heat and eat meals in the fridge etc, so you don’t have to be in that situation. Every week I steam up a but batch of veggies and leave them in the fridge ready to quickly heat in the microwave and eat if I’m in a rush, and if I run out, I’ve always got my back up frozen veggies in the freezer 😉
>> How did I stay away from yummy food temptations? Keep in mind that there is a healthier option that you like just as much, if not more. After training on Friday night, I was tired and a little time restricted to get ready for an appearance later that night. “I’ll just get a kebab” I thought, starting to salivate in excitement. As far as fast food goes, it’s not really the worst option, but I still felt a little guilty about going off the plan. So I thought, “what can I eat that’s fast, just as good, but healthier?” I compromised, and bought 1/4 BBQ Chicken instead and made a quick salad at home. It really was just as yummy as a kebab, but I felt a million percent better knowing I’d eaten something healthy, and my body showed it the next day.
>> As a real test to myself, I’ve had a chocolate sitting on the front of the top shelf in the fridge all week. It’s the first thing I see every time I go to make food, and when I’m at my hungriest. I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard not to eat it, as normally I would convince myself I’ll just train it off. But with this attitude I’d stay the same, and never progress. So instead I just think to myself “oh but Max Brenners is better, I’ll save myself for that on Sunday”, then I have a big glass of water and handful of grapes or cherry tomatoes to fix up my sugar craving while I’m making my main meal and all of a sudden I don’t really feel like that chocolate anyway. So now it’s become a bit of a game… How long can I keep it there for? And every day it’s still there, I feel a little bit more powerful
>> Always keep your goal at the forefront of your mind. To kick off the 40Days2Fit challenge on Monday night, we had a sports psychologist Mark Edmondson come out and talk to everyone. Something I really got out of his talk was when he said something along the lines of “To get anywhere in life you must have a clear vision of where/what/who you want to be, and make daily decisions and actions in line with that vision. Without that you are just cruising through life and before you know it days, months, years will pass you by”. Doing this would have to be the single biggest thing that has helped me this week, in fact to the point where I don’t even care if I go to Max Brenner today or not (it’s Sunday today). I’m so happy with what I achieved this week without it that I’m happy to just had another handful of grapes instead, haha. Every time I’ve made a decision this week, whether it be to go to bed early so I get a good nights sleep, to push myself that little but harder in a training session, or to stick to my diet regime, I’ve had a clear mental image of my goal in the forefront of my mind and made my decisions accordingly.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish”
Happy Sunday xx
