Change your Mindset...

Whether you're an average Jill or Joe trying to lose weight or an experienced trainee trying to get “ripped,” there is way of thinking about food that is more dangerous to your diet and fitness goals than anything else. It's the “I have to have this,” mentality. We've all been in the situation where you have an option for a side of fries or a side salad, but you've already decided well before you got there that you had to have the fries. This kind of thinking completely sabotages yourself from losing weight and getting the body that you ultimately want. It also shows that the instant gratification of the taste of the fries is more important that the long-term gratification of a healthy, strong body.

For most people, eating the wrong foods is a mental thing. They know they're not supposed to eat it and they know what it's going to do their bodies, but they do it anyway. What has to change is their perception of the food. They see the food as bringing so much happiness that it takes away from the problems it will cause later. Don't turn a blind eye to that. The delayed gratification of losing weight and being healthy is much more valuable and satisfying than the taste of any food today. I don't remember where I heard this but, “nothing tastes as good as thin feels.” Very true.

There are a couple of tricks you can use to keep yourself from getting to that point. First off, never let yourself get to the point of “starvation”. “Starvation” mode is survival mode which means you will do anything you can to get food in you. Think about it this way, when you're starving, do you feel like eating something healthy? Didn't think so. Plan your meals and snacks so you are never caught off guard.

The next thing that really helps is to ask yourself questions. This is one of the most powerful things you can do because it makes you aware of the food you're about to eat. When you go out to eat and you feel yourself saying, “I have to have this” ask yourself a couple of questions.

-Is this really more important than my health and physique?
-Is this going to cancel out how well I've been eating all week?
-How is this going to make me feel afterward?

Each of these questions is going to lead to an answer that will steer you clear of your “have to have it” food and will slow down the momentum that mentality can cause. Your goal should be to come up with at least five momentum-breaking questions you can ask yourself to get you on course and keep you there. Try asking them before you have that "bad" meal and see what happens.

Now of course, this doesn't mean you'll have to avoid some of your favorite fried foods forever. You simply have to plan them out. Plan on Tuesday to go out on Friday and only on that day, you'll order some fries to go with that turkey burger. This gives you a goal and now you know to work out a little harder before Friday night. If this is too difficult or you think eating what you want when you want is the only way to live then that's fine. You just to have to come to terms with the fact that regardless of how much you workout and no matter how many miles you run, you will always have subpar results.