Existing amongst all of us that love our warm plates of pasta, the occasional slice of New York style cheesecake and the cheesy godlikeness of the perfect slice of pizza are those who only eat food as fuel. However hard it is to face, the fact remains that food is meant to give us nutrients and fuel so that we can continue to live. Thats why treating yourself to that excess raspberry truffle cheesecake showed up on the scale the next morning. Nourishing your body can not always be a gourmet experience. This may be one of the biggest causes of cheat days that turn into cheat weeks, months and years. I have many friends who go from 0 to 60, trying to change themselves into someone who only eats for fuel, not intending to like anything "healthy" that they shove down their throat. Let me give you two examples of things that are never going to work.
Example 1 involves someone who turns to supplements, meal replacements, etc. in order to lose weight. We often, without even realizing it develop a "If I had..." mentality. If I had _____(fill this space in with whatever fade diet you last tried or heard about) I could lose the weight. If I had new clothes to fit into I would lose the weight. If I had a new gym membership or excercise equipment I could lose the weight. You absolutely could lose the weight with any of those things, but you never will no matter what you get or how much money you spend without self control, will power and personnel responsibility. Before you spend the money on any new weight loss plan think to yourself, do I have the self control not to cheat on this? Do I have the will power to stick to this? If I make a mistake, will I take responsibility for it and crack down on myself? If you can answer yes to all of those, why don't you try using those energies into maintaing a healthily diet and exercise first? Whole, natural and unprocessed food is always the best solution to try first. I often ask my friends, if you can't stand having a salad for lunch because it tastes "too healthy" do you think you will be satisfied with a green smoothie or a protein shake and nothing else? The answer is often "no" or the meal replacement turns into a side dish to the meal you have afterward because you are not satisfied.
Example 2 involves someone who believes that dieting or eating right is all about deprivation. When you have this mentality you are always going to be thinking about eating healthy or making changes to your diet (in order to be a more healthy individual) as a negative thing. Of course you are going to be hesitant to do anything that you percieve as a negative thing! That is a completely natural reaction. The truth of the matter is that while every experience can not be gourmet, you can LIKE the healthy food you eat. Enjoying a delicious, indulgent treat here and there does not make you a failure. However, if you are only allowing yourself food you dread, you will always be longing for the food you like. That is a recipe for a crash and burn. Start making healthy food you LIKE to eat, so that you do not feel like you are constantly punishing yourself. My boyfriend and I recently discovered that we LOVE garlic roasted kale blossoms. I was honestly ready to dismiss kale in every way except for the frozen kale I added to my morning green smoothies because it was masked by the pineapple and mango I also added. Opening myself up to trying it as a side dish with him (for him) made me a believer and now I don't think of it at all like a punishment. You have to find what works for you. Do me a favor and trust me on this one. You are making me give him a lot of credit by trying to convince you here but I am willing to go on hearing the "See I told you to try it and now BOOM you like it"'s just for you to get what I am saying here.
I have read a lot of articles about people saying "food is fuel only" or saying something that always seems to sound like "if you like food for anything other than giving your body energy to get your run on at the gym...than you are a big fat pig". None of the sites actually said that but I think you know what I mean. If you make an internal agreement with yourself and come to terms with the fact that you enjoy eating, you can make a rule for yourself. You are going to embrace the fact that food is only for fuel and that you shouldn't go to it for any other reason than to fuel your body. Yes, that candy you gorged on because you were feeling emotional and your roommate gifted you a jar of fun sized chocolate sabotage was a mistake, but you are going to eat intentionally and healthfully everyday and one mistake does not mean you give up that day. Rewarding yourself with a cheat treat, does not mean you drag bad thoughts about yourself into the shower that night. Enjoying food does not make you a failure. What makes you a failure is giving up on yourself; that you can't find anything "good" to eat, that you have no self control or will power, thinking that you can't do it, or not doing it because it's "too hard". "It's never too late to be what you might have been" - George Eliot.
Something I always use to do, that I have not been good about lately is that if I allowed myself a frozen yogurt with more chocolate toppings than necessary or if I enjoyed something involving a lot of unneeded warm chocolate and ice cream (are you getting the hint that I really like chocolate yet?) I would remember to take that into the gym with me later that day or the next. I would do my workout but then push myself to go further because of what I had allowed myself that took me farther from my goal. Personnel responsibility.
So why did I write this?
On this blog I am going to be posting healthy recipes, alternatives to "junky" recipes that makes them healthier, tips and tricks, etc. However I am also going to be posting indulgent recipes, sweets, desserts & carbivore goodness. I want readers to know where I am coming from. You can see something I post, try it out and discover that you do like "healthy" food. I promise. I want people to share with me how they liked my more healthful recipes (and even my "unhealthy" ones) and share photos on how theirs turned out. If you know a great healthy recipes I would be open to posting it so that people realize there is good, enjoyable fuel out there :-) Even if it is healthy, c'est si bon!
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