Healthy eating is about more than calories or following
the latest dietary fad. Trends come and go. Healthy bodies
have been around for thousands of years, before there were
magic bullets for instant fat loss marketed on major television
stations or promising easy weight loss in flashy colors
on the pages of magazines. By embracing your individuality,
and learning how to apply the five keys of healthy eating
to your own lifestyle, you can transcend these temporary
fads and ease into a lifelong habit of living lean.
1. Enjoy what you eat
Whether someone is following the Atkins diet, the South
Beach diet, the advice contained in Tom Venuto's e-Book,
"Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" or even a program
of their own design, success depends on enjoying what you
eat. When you don't enjoy your food, you resist it. Resistance
creates stress and stress is counter-productive to fat loss.
It is important to look at eating as a part of your life,
not a chore that interrupts your life.
The question ultimately becomes, "How do I learn to
enjoy healthy
foods?" Most people did not enjoy their first cup of
coffee or can of beer. What happened is that in their environment,
external pressures - stress, fatigue, peer pressure - created
a desire to enjoy that steaming hot espresso or to be able
to chug down a draught of beer with the best of their buddies.
Eventually, a strange thing happened - when the coffee cup
was repeatedly associated with more energy or productivity,
or simply the
pleasure of settling down to read something while draining
the cup, or when the beer became associated with fun times
and great parties, they "acquired a taste."
You can acquire a taste for healthy foods. It is important
to understand how you operate, to determine if it makes
sense to go "cold turkey" or transition. Many
people cling to diets that allow "free days" or
"gorge fests" because they never really learn
to enjoy the healthy food - they need the psychological
crutch of getting comfortable again (if comfortable means
bloated and nauseous from overeating junk food) and live
from "free day"
to "free day." Is this you? If so, you might start
transitioning and looking for an alternative. Instead of
a free day, how about this: have a few free meals and then
focus on enjoying the food that you consume throughout the
week. Experiment with new recipes. Don't like raw vegetables?
Try steamed. Don't like them plain? Spice them up. As you
lose weight and gain energy, focus on the connection between
your healthy foods and your new physique. Before long, you
might even "acquire a taste" for healthy foods.
2. Believe in what you are doing
Belief is an important component of any lifestyle. If you
don't believe what you are doing will work, why should you
continue to do it? Often times, the lack of belief is not
in the program you are following, but rather in yourself.
Food is an addiction that is no different than addiction
to cigarettes, alcohol, or illegal drugs. To overcome this
addiction, the first place to look is
within you. Without faith, you are going to allow fear to
maneuver you into a position to binge, overeat, and sabotage
yourself.
When you don't believe, you simply "do." It is
a frustrating concept, especially for analytical people,
because they want to have a simple set of rules. It is easy
as an analytical person to get into your comfort zone. Find
an equation that spits out a number of calories. Get a "ratio"
of foods - 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat, right? Then
you have that exact formula and you are ready to go. Unfortunately,
if it were that simple, more people would be sharing their
success story (and their formulas) with everyone else.
The fact is that it is not the calorie or the formula or
the ratio that determines your success. It is you. Whether
you are on a high protein, low fat, no-sugar, or other program,
your success will be determined by the level of your belief.
I have witnessed people achieve success using many different
nutrition styles, and the common element that linked their
success was belief. If you asked them, "Will you lose
your weight," they would reply,
"Absolutely." If you cannot state that without
confidence, it is time to find something you can believe
in ... and more often than not, it will not be a new program,
but you. Believe in you.
We will cover the
next three keys in part II.
>>
Click here for Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle
program (a must have for anyone serious about
losing body fat and getting fit!) >> Click here for Will Brink's Bodybuilding Revealed |
