Setting your minimums

 "It ain't easy".

- Freddy Roach  

I chose the above quote for a very simple reason, good health isn't easy. Yes, its simple, eat whole foods as often as possible, get some exercise every day, get at least 8 hours of sleep, but that isn't easy. The "calories in/calories out" rule to weight loss is oversimplified, the barrage of social media posts telling you the magic bullet to weight loss or amazing fitness isn't hard, it just requires 5 shakes a day, or a bottle of "keto pills" whatever the fuck that means, the incessant posts from social media influencers, celebrities, etc., its well, a lot.

So it strikes me as odd that after someone has busted their ass, put in the work to get the healthy lifestyle they've wanted, the results they've wanted, to chuck it the moment the holidays arrive or its time for vacation. Why? I understand the family pressure that comes with things like the big holidays that are just around the corner. However, that sense of obligation we feel to have 3 servings of our mother's apple pie comes with intense guilt and self loathing that often has people spiraling through Christmas and New Years. Bad habits return as does the 15 lbs lost over the course of the summer and all the negative thoughts and feelings are their with them.

Here's the good news - you are, at all times, in control of what you eat and drink. Yes, your normal routine may take a hit, but, it doesn't have to be the spiral down the rabbit hole that it might have been in the past. It starts by recognizing that you can control more than you think, and not stressing over the things you can't. Example - you can't control what a relative or loved one might say to "encourage" you to eat something you don't want, but you can control your response. Can you control some possible hurt feelings? Probably not. But in an effort to not hurt your dear aunt, you've continued this negative cycle in your life for far too long. While we all know that it is not possible to have total control all of the time, so what do you do in these situations? You set your “minimums”.

Your minimums are the basic parameters you set for yourself, that you can follow in any situation or environment (this also works great on the weekends).  Doing so allows you to stay on the path toward reaching your goals, while still enjoying yourself. Some examples of holiday/weekend minimums are:

*Eat vegetables with 2 meals a day

*Consume a serving of protein with every meal

*Follow the plate method for at least one meal a day

*Follow your hunger cues 

*15 minutes of intentional movement a day

*Drink at least 64 oz of water

*Sleep 8 hours a night

You can choose 2 or 3 options from this list, and check them off each day that you’re away from your normal routine. So you can still enjoy Sunday football with your friends without walking away stuffed or bloated and more than a bit pissed that you ate and drank the way you did. Here's the even better news, once you set these minimums and stick to them, you'll find that most people around you will begin to respect them, at least to an extent. This is critical to understand, you may need a thicker skin to withstand some off-putting comments about the way you eat, or hurting someone's feelings for not eating their dish, or any other statement that is designed to illicit guilt. Your biggest minimum is learning to say no to those things that you know will tilt you in the direction you worked so hard to shift. Again, not easy, but definitely worth it. Remember, you have to live in the body that you are hoping has a lot more life left in it. Don't you deserve to do that feeling good about the work you've done all year round, not just a few months? Never forget the work it took to get where you are, it will help setting your minimums a lot easier.

If you would like to learn more about how to set your minimums, especially in time for the holidays, go to www.ironflagfitness.com, go to the Nutrition link, click on the "Book your free Nutrition consultation" and sign up today to talk.

Stay strong,

Guy

Back with purpose

"The best way out is through."

Robert Frost

There's much to discuss. I know. And I'll get to it all I promise. But my goal with this blog was to help educate through my own experimentation and experience and I haven't done a very good job of that in over a year. So I begin again in the hopes of helping those who read. 

This week's topic involves something that at one time or another, we've all done. However, with the stress of quarantine/COVID and the social justice issues we've faced the last 7 months, we are seeing more of it than ever. We call it mindless eating. 

If you follow Iron Flag Fitnesses Insta, I discussed this on our Wellness Wednesday post. I touched on the topic of physical hunger vs. emotional hunger. Its important to recognize the signs of each so you can determine what you actually feel. So let's dig in -

 

Physical hunger cues

1. Comes on slowly, takes time to develop

2. You desire a variety of foods, not one particular food group

3. Able to eat until you feel a sensation of satiety, less prone to over-eating.

4. Feel good about your food selection after you finish eating. 

Emotional hunger cues 

1. Comes on suddenly 

2. Desire/crave one particular food group - primarily highly palatable foods, think prepackaged, high in carbs and fat. 

3. Never feel a sensation of being full, feel more like you could continue to eat without ever reach satiety

4. Feelings of guilt or shame post eating

Now that we've identified what to be aware of, what can we do about it? Before we discuss that, its important to keep these things in mind - this is fixable, it simply requires habit building, you have the tools to learn your hunger cues intuitively - we were born with them - and with time and a little bit of work, you can be more dialed in to your personal cues.

Step 1 - recognize what's going on around you. Often, we are in more stressful situations when we eat mindlessly. This doesn't mean that we are necessarily in the midst of chaos, rather, it means we can feel stressed because of things going on in our lives - the stress of working from home, the stress of working from home while your kids are e-learning, the stress of going to work with the uncertainty of being exposed to COVID, the list goes on. Take 5 minutes to step back, have a drink of water and assess. Am I hungry or am I looking to food for comfort? Am I using food to avoid dealing with something like my job or my family? During this time, drink a full glass of water. 8-12 ounces. Set a timer if you have to. After the time is up, re-assess. If you are still hungry, then eat. But that 5 minutes should help you realize that if you are really hungry, you will make better decisions as to what you eat.

Step 2- Eat slowly. I have a really hard time with this. We are constantly rushed, always feeling like we need to get to the next thing and not really enjoying our meals. But have you ever eaten so fast that within minutes after stopping you feel pretty terrible? Bloated, over-full, lethargic? That's due to our satiety hormones taking longer to catch up to our GI system. So we overeat, never really feeling full until its too late and we are staring at a now empty bag of Chips Ahoy. So how do we eat slower? Start with putting your utensil down between bites allowing yourself to chew your food and actually swallow before your next one. If you're like me, not only put down the utensil, count to 3 before picking it back up. (At dinnertime, if I didn't do this, I'd clear out my entire fridge of food). This allows your brain to catch up to your stomach so you will fuller, faster. 

Step 3 - Eat until you are 80% full. This admittedly takes a bit more practice. However, if you are doing the above step, learning your 80% will happen quickly. But you may be wondering, what does 80% feel like? Here it is - you have eaten to a point where you are comfortable. You don't feel stuffed, you feel like you could get up and go for a walk without dragging yourself out the door, and you feel good about what you just ate. No guilt. Keep a journal as to what you are feeling at this point. Give yourself 15 minutes. If you still feel hungry, then eat a bit more. Slowly, mindfully. Journaling can be an extremely useful tool to keep you mindful as to what's happened in the past and prevent yourself from repeating habits that you don't like. 

Again these habits take time but can be done. Be patient with yourself as you go through this process. And as always, reach out with questions. I'm here to help.

Stay strong,

Guy