So you want to lose 5kg, or 10kg, or simply just start eating healthy.
All of these things take commitment, desire and behaviour change.
Are you are the type of person who goes all or nothing? You are either found in the gym on some crazy detox, sweating hard and praising kale for it’s amazing health benefits, or you can be found sitting in your bedroom, sweating, and surrounded by MnMs, chocolate, cookies and chips..? This is the article for you.
One of my best friends sparked this one. You can thank her. She’s the type of woman who when she decides to do something, she will go 100% effort, all or nothing. She puts her mind, body and soul into whatever she decides to do. She is amazing. But, with one downfall. When she’s good, she’s good. And when she’s bad, she’s bad. For example, when she’s good, she will research every single vitamin, and then find all the fruits and veggies containing each vitamin and make sure she’s eating all of them. She will down concoctions of apple cider vinegar, lemon and cayenne pepper in the mornings, and go the gym like a crazy person. When she’s bad, she will binge eat until she’s sick. Chocolates, chips, maccas, brownies, milkshakes for hours on end. Then complain about how bloated she is, then a couple of hours later she’s planning what bad foods she will eat next. It’s a crazy cycle.
It’s nice to have balance. Not to stress over your food. Stop thinking so much about food, and think about nourishing your cells. What you eat, actually gets broken down, and is used by the body to make new cells, which turn into your skin, organs, hair, nails etc. You really are what you eat. Your body is made up of trillions of cells, yes trillions. The average adult body must make 300 million cells every day to replace old cells! When you physically open your mouth to put nutrients in your body, think, is this what I want to be made of?
On that note, if you find you need to change ALOT to become the healthy version of yourself. You don’t need to commit all at once. If you need to start a new exercise program, change your breakfast, eat more veggies, drink more water, fill in a food diary, as well as tackle your work load, do the washing, study etc, you might be setting yourself up for failure, if you change everything all at once. Try to implement just one thing. For example, if my all-or-nothing girlfriend decided she wanted to become a healthier version of herself, she should have probably simply started with committing to drink her apple cider vinegar concoction every day for the first week. Then the next week, add in some more veggies in her lunches and dinners. The week after, start the gym program, and drink more water during training sessions. The week after that, changing her breakfast option to a better one… and before she knows it, she’s doing it easily, and it’s all becoming a habit. She is transforming into the healthier version of herself without all the stressful instant changes. She may find it’s easier to maintain, and is actually enjoying it!
So the next time you embark on a crazy “I need to lose 5kg in 4 weeks” Diet, maybe sit back, and ask yourself, what small changes can I make to get me closer to this goal, without crash dieting?
Embrace the journey of change, what’s the rush?
