kateneedsfitness

The Struggle

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’ve decided to stop eating processed food (again). You want to wake up every day feeling good so you start eating more vegetables and paying attention to protein. The first day is easy and you go to bed feeling accomplished! Day 2 goes smoothly too, but Day 3 comes around and inevitably you start thinking about a sweet treat. You’ve had a good couple of days of eating, so you think, “maybe just a little ice cream- I’ve earned it!” You feel good. The next day, guilt creeps in. You’re trying to stay consistent with staying away from processed foods, so you go strict to make up for the ice cream. Maybe too strict. You start feeling deprived. You see your fam enjoying pizza and are torn with the decision- should you have a slice or should you skip it to “be good”? The internal battle stresses you out, but eventually you give in. You’re back in the cycle. Processed food wins again.

The Point

Trust when I say – I’ve been there. This is the game I played for years before I figured out how to stick with eating whole, real food- for good. It’s not like magically one day you have the power to look at sweets and treats and say, “I have zero desire to consume you.” It really is just like exercising a muscle. The more you practice, the easier it is to say no OR decide in that moment, “do I really want this?” That’s the real flex. In any given moment you can confidently choose if something will help you feel what you want to feel, whether that’s healthy, happiness, connection- it’s up to you! A fulfilled, healthy life isn’t about always saying no to the things you think are “unhealthy.” There’s room for all kinds of foods in a balanced life! First, we just have to make sure we’re getting in all the nutrients we need to survive, but then we have wiggle room for the things we truly enjoy.

Make it Happen

Here’s how I make those kinds of big decisions. If we’re looking at any random week, I make sure every day I’m consuming all essential nutrients (I talked about that in this post). I’ll admit, just a couple years ago I was very strict in the way I was eating, I wouldn’t eat sugar, gluten, dairy, or meat. Today, I still don’t eat meat/animal products, but I will happily eat anything else! I demonized these foods because I thought they were really wreaking havoc on my gut- turns out I just needed a fresh start! When I finally started paying attention to how foods make me feel, it feels easy to pick more natural whole foods over processed. Even after a while the processed foods no longer tasted as good 😭 and I started gravitating towards better ingredients anyways- because you really can taste the difference when you have a cleaner palette!

Enjoy life

When you’re feeling torn between choosing whole, unprocessed foods or a quick cooking meal or a sweet treat ask yourself these questions:

• What kind of energy do I need right now, and the rest of the day? Do I need my energy to last or do I want a quick joy boost right now?
• Is it a special occasion? I’m a big fan of saying YES to food on special occasions, it’s my personal favorite way to celebrate!
• Do you really want it, or is it just convenient? Sometimes we eat something just because it’s available, when we could have something we’ll enjoy even more, or will be more filling, later.
• Are you super freaking hungry, like that depleted feeling with the shakes? You need a snack! Something is better than nothing. Try not to get to that point! I know sometimes life happens, that’s why I like to keep a BOBO oat bar in my purse for those rare occasions.

Overall, ask yourself: Will this make me feel good? Will I feel okay with my choice later? Society has conditioned us to think we need to feel guilty about certain food choices, but when you’re confident you’re making balanced choices you can feel good about food every day! No guilt or shame here, no matter what kind of food 🙅‍♀️

One of my favorite go-to treat recipes uses a high quality protein powder that tricks my brain into thinking I’m really having chocolate ice cream. Click here to see the recipe to make it yourself- I’d love to know if you try it! Sometimes I choose nice cream, sometimes I choose full dairy ice cream! It depends on the day, the occasion, how I’m feeling overall! No wrong choices here ✨

>>>What daily ritual is calling you today?