I'm sure it is not being published on February 14th, but hopefully I'm in the ball park!
I've just been a little bit blown away with my willpower in the past almost-six-weeks, so I wanted to write about that today, especially with all the chocolate and candy and love in the air. Perfect timing, Kate.
Before this year, I would use holidays of any kind as an excuse to "cheat" and eat poorly, whether for a day, two days, or maybe just one meal. I would say, "I'm doing to devour these cheese fries and this bread basket and this sixteen ounce steak because it's Valentine's Day, and I deserve a treat." You could swap out Valentine's Day with my birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, July Fourth, you name it. Holidays and "special days" were days when calories didn't count and healthy eating didn't matter. Maybe I would begin the day really determined, but at some point I completely disregarded my goals (and my stomach), said "to hell with it," and ate what I wanted.
This usually resulted in me being miserably full--of food and regret. Too much cake. Too much turkey. Too much chocolate. Too much, too much, too much.
All too often, these were the times when I would completely give up on my healthy regimen, with the mindset that I'd already screwed it up-I might as well quit and try again later.
Just like that night at my friend's house, during out "late night" girls' gab session (I wrote a little about it here), I knew I wasn't hungry, and on top of that, I knew I didn't need pizza. If I had been hungry, she had bananas on her kitchen counter, fresh fruit in the fridge; there were better options.
But I knew that cheesy, pepperoni pizza wasn't going to get me any closer to my goals at 1AM on a Saturday morning. Would it have tasted good? Hell yeah. But I wouldn't have felt any better about myself thirty minutes later.
In a nutshell, that's the mindset I've had this year when I get around my favorite foods or situations where the possibility of overeating is definitely there: Sure, this would taste good, but is it going to help me? Is it good for my body? Is it going to get me closer to my fitness or health goals?
If the answers to any of those questions are NO, I stay away. Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's a firm, "No, thank you." And sometimes it means getting the hell away.
I'm constantly taking progress pictures before or after I work out or in the morning because in moments where turning down food and treats are really tough, I can see that I've made an incredible amount of progress, and I shudder at the thought of throwing it all away. I'm not at all saying that one helping of French fries or one chocolate brownie with ice cream is going to ruin six weeks of work, but I know myself and I know how easily my willpower could slip away if that little demon in the back of my mind has her way.
I will enjoy a plate of fries and a brownie soon; I just know I'm not ready for it yet.
I hope your Valentine's Day, no matter who you are, was wonderful. If you treated yourself in any way, I hope you enjoyed it! I hope if you're reading this and realizing that we share similar struggles, I can be a source of inspiration and hope for you. It often takes a little while to see big progress, but if you keep going, I promise it's coming!
I feel happier and stronger each and every day and all because I finally got my mind in the right place, ready to make big changes and be the healthiest I can be.
Thank you so much for being such amazing readers and for supporting me; I can't believe I've had this blog nearly four years now! I'm so thankful to have friends like y'all cheering me on! Love you guys!
No comments:
Post a Comment