We’ve all struggled with our weight one time or another. Whether you have a hard time saying no to delicious high calorie food, or making it to the gym. Struggle is struggle. The good news is it’s something you can overcome.
Being a trainer now for nearly a decade, I’ve heard every excuse for not being able to lose weight twice over. You have no time, you love food too much, you’re too tired after work, the list goes on and on. Listen, if your goal is to lose a few pounds, there’s going to be some sacrifices along the way. They don’t have to be massive, life altering changes, but they do have to exist.
Which brings me to the purpose of this post. Mindful eating!
One of the biggest challenges my clients face, is food. 9 times out of 10, this is the hardest obstacle to pass when you’re trying to lose weight. Your reason may be different from someone else’s, but it’s the biggest culprit for the majority. Being able to get into a gym and exercise seems doable for most. You may not have a hard time working out, or putting in effort. The problem comes when you’re not at the gym. This means ~23 hours a day, you deal with cravings and temptations from all types of ads and societal pressure.
It’s as if you can’t get away from all the options or convenience of fast food, snacks and beverages. No matter how hard you try, the “bad” food always finds its way to you.
Here’s the thing. The idea isn’t to eat ZERO “junk food”. It’s to be mindful of your food choices.
You can do this in a multitude of ways, but I’m going to list 3 ways I found worked best for all my clients with the same challenge as you.
1. Watch the extras!
Most people feel they are eating healthy food for all of their meals. So they get a little flustered when they don’t see the progress they’re aiming for. What happens isn’t necessarily that people aren’t making the right food choices. It’s that they’re still eating too much for what they’re trying to achieve.
If you’re cooking a lot of your meals on your own, you’re already ahead of the game. What you have to remember is being mindful about what you’re adding to your food. If you eat 3 times a day with a snack before bed, you need to make sure you know what is going into your food. By this I mean the values of each item being added. I’m talking oils, butters, sauces, creams and anything with extra calories. The reason is simple. You may THINK you’re getting the recommended serving size, but you could have gone overboard without being aware.
Let’s be real here, it’s quite unlikely you’re weighing everything you put onto your plate. It’s easy to squirt the bottle of ketchup until you feel happy with the amount on your homemade burger and fries. Without measuring, you run the risk of adding a few too many calories to each meal. Although this may not seem like a big deal, it’s an easy way to get an additional 400-500 calories in your entire day. This could be the difference between losing weight or staying still. So be mindful of your additional flavours and cooking agents, because there’s most definitely some extra calories lurking!
2. Portion control.
Choosing healthy meals isn’t exactly the hardest thing to do. Grab some protein, throw in some vegetables and pick a starch. Easy right? Yes, well most people over estimate the amount of food they should be putting on their plate. Your eyes are often bigger than your stomach, so the size of the meal you want isn’t the size of the meal you should be having. You have a goal. You’re trying to fit in some old clothes or even earn your way into new ones. Whatever your reason, portions need to be understood.
The amount of food you eat will affect your progress, so you need to know what your body needs! This also means you need to know how much NOT to eat in a single sitting.
3. Avoiding sugar.
We’ve all heard this one before. The fact of the matter is sugar doesn’t have much of a place in healthy eating. Aside from fruits, sugar should be avoided in nearly all cases. Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t have some candy or ice cream here or there. The point is sugar has no nutritional benefit to you and your body. So having some should be more of an uncommon occurrence rather than an every day thing.
The saying “anything in moderation” can definitely be applied to sugar. You’re always better off not having any, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live a little. Do your best to avoid it and leave it for rare occasions. This will greatly reduce your desire to eat sweet food (over time) and ultimately lead you to a healthier body more in line with your goal.
Summary:
Applying these 3 mindful eating strategies is sure to push you in the direction of losing that stubborn weight. You’ve been working hard to get rid of the extra pounds, and being mindful is your best way to see even more progress.
If you still feel lost and want to make long term progress, check out our Online Coaching program. We make custom programs for each individual based on their likes, dislikes and overall goals. We cut out the guess work so you can focus on your progress.
