You Know You're On A Diet When...

In the world of the figure competitor, we have a forbidden pleasure known as "Food Porn". I have mentioned this before in my blog.
We get our fill/pleasure through the visual or sensual (scent) of foods that we cannot eat when we are in competition prep. As I go through the grocery store or, drive past places I "stock up" or catalog in my mind the foods I want to eat when I am done with my competition.
So, what's cataloged right now...my beloved sesame seed bagels with loads of peanut butter, the super caloric, super huge cookies from It's A Grind....and now...what I made my son and daughter for lunch. The toasted Peanut Butter and Egg Sandwich! I cannot take credit for this one. Our family watches the show Man vs Food - it is on the travel network. This guy Adam Richman is so funny, and I have never seen anyone eat like he does. He goes to various towns and eats at places know for being the best at something. Then in each town he does a food challenge. This guy has eaten 7lbs of food in one sitting on numerous occasions!
My son loves this show. He has made up some of his own eating challenges - some timed eating like toast in 15 secs, or some spicy food challenges. Super cute, cause it is nowhere near the scale of food that Adam the food guy does -thank God! I can only imagine what that guys arteries look like!
Anyhow, one episode had a burger joint that made a burger with eggs and peanut butter on it. So, Jacob, my son did a spin off of that. My four year old Reagan had one too! If she ate it, it had to taste good!

So, I know I am on a diet when a sunny side up egg with peanut butter on a toasted sandwich seems like it would be tasty to me!!

Let's talk about diets....yet again. As, I cannot hammer home the truth about them enough. Diets don't work. They are temporary. Hence a competition diet...is a "fix" for a time that prepares you for the stage...or to fit into that dress for your high school reunion...I will never have a HS reunion, as our beloved school closed and turned into some administration building...how sad. But that's another story.

The song and dance of a diet is once you don't stick to it, or you reached your goal, how then do you maintain? Sadly enough, most people just don't. See those drastic pictures in those mags with all the celebrities showing them skinny, then fat? Ya, how long do you think you can stand the lemonade diet? Exactly!

In order to be successful at weight loss, or good weight gain, you need to make a lifestyle change.
My advice, and I certainly am no know it all, is for you pick one thing to remove from your daily intake, and work on eating it less and less over a week or two, til it becomes a part of you -in other words, normal. Then you pick something else.

I look at eating as fueling my body. When I want to eat something that will "set me back", I think, how will this really make me feel? And, quite honestly half the time it looks better than it tastes, so is it really worth it?
It is a gradual process of change, and proper eating habits take time to develop. So, maybe for the next three weeks, stay away from the scale and try and walk 4 times a week. Pick a food to eat less of. It's those little things that can actually add up to a lot of calories, or should I say deficit of calories and help you reach your goal!

I just got back from a super bowl party. It was great to chat with friends I had not talked to in a while. The party revolved around a chili tasting contest. 9 different chili's, yummy desserts everywhere, unhealthy snacks too. My hubby and kids had a great time. Me, I packed two meals to eat while I was there, and stared past it all. I am surprised that I did not even cheat. What got me through? Well, it was tough, I am a dessert girl! But, I simply told myself that it looked better than it tasted. How does that work? It took me a long time to develop that, and if I was not preparing for a show, then I would have allowed myself a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Not much more. Those situations can put a person over the edge. Knowing that ahead of time and mentally preparing also help!

Over half the battle is in your mind. Are you really hungry? Do you really need that? How much is too much?

You decide!