Back when I was a serial rollercoaster dieter, cheat days were a way to eat every single thing I knew I couldn’t have while dieting. The foods I ate would bring me back to my childhood. The only difference is that everything I ate in my childhood would be somehow eaten in a single cheat day (sometimes a single meal). As you can probably imagine, I had defined myself as a "fat" child. As a young adult on the yo-yo "diet" train, I often felt like a fat kid in a somewhat fitter body. Every cheat meal would come with feelings that I "deserved" it, followed almost immediately by feelings of self-disgust, shame and guilt. This would lead me into a longer binge...because I would feel like crap from eating crap and, feeling like a failure, give up and just say, "fuck it...lets go to Taco Bell."
But over the past couple of years, my philosophy for cheat days has changed. I had to change my mindset, which started with understanding that healthy eating is a LIFESTYLE, and not a diet. If putting healthy, nutritious things into my body was my new normal, I had to also carve out some well-deserved and guilt-free TREAT meals, where I could celebrate my success, special events, even just that time of the month...and still know I was on the path to reach my goals. We all need to cut loose every now and again, and I knew I couldn't take on a whole life transformation FOREVER if I wasn't allowed to occasionally indulge in comfort food or celebrate with a glass of wine...or two...or three. (The best part is that now I'm a lightweight so I'm a much cheaper date than I used to be).
So today, knowing that I'm going to indulge at my team's holiday event tonight, I started my day making sure I got a good workout in, and put the healthiest meal of the day into my body. I won't starve myself in preparation for the event, because I've learned that doing that shuts down my metabolism, ensures I'll eat EVEN MORE than I would have anyway, and will cause my body to hold onto all the delicious things I'll be feeding it later. Instead, I'm staying on track like any other day (just leaning away from my normal fat intake because I'll get plenty of that tonight) and making sure I jump back on track tomorrow.
I learned all of this during my journey from the support of my fit fam who give me daily support, motivation and accountability, and my own trials and errors. THIS is why having the network of love and connectivity during your journey is SO IMPORTANT! And THIS is just another reason I can't WAIT to cut loose with my team tonight - because we're not all boring "fit people" - we all came from a place of unhappiness, we all know how to have a good time, and we all will be there for each other tomorrow cheering one another on and getting back on track.
If you're interested in REALLY committing to change your lifestyle and giving the BOOT to those negative thoughts, guilt, binging, yo-yo diets, you can do it! I support you 200%! But first you have to be READY. If you are, hit me up and let's talk about how we can make positive changes together! Send me a message at fb.com/jaimepiazza or shoot me an email at jaimepiazza@gmail.com.
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