Arm Yourself For the Trigger Food Fight
How do you trust yourself around trigger foods? Do you indulge in a bowl of ice cream in the middle of the night, and then regret it afterwards? Do you upsize your fast food meal at the end of a hard day? It sounds great in the moment right? I totally get it. This is why I think a huge part of our success is mental. It's not enough to simply eat right and work out. I think for many folks it's really important to change the entire way we think about food. I've boiled it down to the basics and found that I could "trust" myself when I started looking at food for what it really is. I recognized that it’s a tool that can help or hurt me, fuel my work outs, and be the catalyst for my healthy lifestyle. I like to tell our program participants that food never tastes as good as healthy feels. So, I'm here to help you arm yourself in the war against trigger foods!
Here are some helpful tools that I employ to help people build trust and confidence in themselves.1. Keep a food diary. Holding yourself accountable for your meals is a way to build trust in yourself.2. Don’t starve yourself. You should be consistently eat meals or snacks every 3-4 hours. Eating this way will help stabilize blood sugars and help you avoid overeating or gorging on trigger foods.3. Find a healthy alternative for your recipe. If you absolutely need to have a certain food, then ration it out earlier in the day in a small bowl or glass. Never eat out of bowl, bag, jar, or plate.4. One bad day will not ruin all your bad days. When logging, recognizing what your weakness was that day will help you address it the next time. Remember, don’t get discouraged.5. Grab a small bite of your favorite food. As long as you are within your calorie goals, satisfy your cravings with a small snack of something delicious. Some people will argue, but I say don’t have a “cheat day." Only reward yourself if it fits into caloric intake for that day.6. Don't keep your enemies closer. If it's a bad trigger food for you, don’t bring it into the house and don’t buy it.
