S𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬? ⁣
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First off, understand it’s totally normal and something we all struggle with from time to time, but I do want to encourage you to ask yourself the following questions: ⁣
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𝘈𝘴𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 (𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘵𝘤…)? ⁣
𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰? ⁣
𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘹𝘺𝘻 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦? ⁣
𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴? ⁣
𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴? ⁣
𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘪, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦? 𝘖𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨? ⁣
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Once you can get clear on these questions, you can create a strategy from there. ⁣
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I usually recommend giving yourself a 10 minute pause between you and the food. ⁣
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Go do something and likely if you’re not actually hungry the craving to snack will pass. ⁣
If you are genuinely hungry, over those 10 minutes your hunger will build. ⁣
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It’s not a perfect science but these are some simple tools you can start putting in place to help break your snack habit. ⁣
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Remember that emotional and boredom eating is a very normal behavior, but if it’s steering you away from feeling your best, or taking your focus away from the root of the issue, let’s start addressing it. ⁣
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𝘐’𝘮 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶? ⁣

Tell me if this sounds familiar… ⁣⁣
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𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. ⁣⁣
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵. ⁣⁣
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. ⁣⁣
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But you can’t seem to stop. ⁣⁣
You feel stuck. ⁣⁣
You’re avoiding the scale, your energy is low, and you know you need a change. ⁣⁣
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What is one of the best things you can do? ⁣⁣
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𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐄. ⁣⁣
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Hear me out, I used to be terrified of the scale too, but in fact, weighing myself daily, has actually been a huge key to making & sustaining progress on my journey. ⁣⁣
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In fact, one true sign my nutrition & mindset is not in the right place is when I find myself avoiding the scale. ⁣⁣
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When you avoid that number, not only do you build up anxiety about stepping on it, but in contrast, stepping on the scale can be a huge reality check to get back at it. ⁣⁣
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One of the common trends among people who weigh in consistently is that they tend to maintain a healthier body weight. ⁣⁣
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𝘞𝘩𝘺? By weighing in daily you are given immediate accountability to whether you are treating your body in the best way possible. ⁣⁣
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Versus avoiding the reality of the actions you’re taking on a consistent basis. ⁣⁣
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Beyond that, the more you consistently weigh yourself, the less anxiety you’ll build up over that habit and the more you’ll understand normal day to day fluctuations, instead of having an emotional reaction leading to crazy actions based on that number. ⁣⁣
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So here is your friendly nudge to rip off the band aid, step on the scale, and get to feeling your best self, whatever that looks like for you. ⁣⁣
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And P.S. that doesn’t have to be tied to a specific number 𝘣𝘶𝘵 that initial number should be a pretty good indication of whether you are moving closer to or further away from your goals. ⁣⁣
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𝘕𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵? 𝘈𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵. ⁣⁣😘

P.S. Over on my Instagram I shared some examples of weight fluctuations and why weighing in more frequently can be beneficial. Check that out here.   

 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐨, 𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐨, (𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐃 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄), 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝. ⁣

6 years ago to the date I put up a post about how I had been struggling a bit and resorted back to some old ways. ⁣

I decided to go paleo with the hopes of losing some extra weight and taking back ‘𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭’ of my eating. ⁣

It ended with a failure on day one and a spoonful of peanut butter. I shared this because I wanted to be transparent and open about the fact that I still had struggles too. ⁣

What I wish I had learned sooner was that by putting foods off limits I wasn’t taking back any control. 𝘐𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘮𝘦. ⁣

I was taking away trust and belief in myself, and expecting my crazy food rules to somehow stick this one time for good. ⁣

Eventually what I learned worked best for me (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦) was actually allowing myself to have all the things. ⁣

⁣𝐍𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬. ⁣

𝘚𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝟺 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔&𝘔’𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴? ⁣

I focused on creating (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨) an environment that would set me up for success. ⁣

This meant filling my house with easy, filling, convenient & healthy options that I actually enjoyed. ⁣

Some foods I had to get out of the house temporarily. They weren’t off limits and if I wanted them I certainly could have them in moderation, but I would have to go out and buy a single serving or enjoy them out and about. ⁣

Other foods, I slowly started to incorporate daily in a controlled amount. Once they were no longer ‘off limits’ and I was enjoying them every day, I found I actually didn’t crave them quite as much as I thought, and slowly started to gain more control around those once deemed ‘𝘣𝘢𝘥’ foods. ⁣

Set your environment up for success. ⁣

Be realistic about your habits and behaviors around certain foods and understand that they may take some time to change. ⁣

Be patient with yourself in the process. ⁣

I promise, if you focus on those three things and stop looking for the magical diet or quick fix that is finally going to stick, you will see success with time. ⁣⁣

Focus on taking 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. ⁣

⁣𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. ⁣

Now let’s take that action. What is one way you can change your 𝐄𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 to better set yourself up for success? ⁣

You’re going to have bad days.
You’re going to struggle.
You’re going to feel insecure.
You’re going to miss workouts.
You’re going to feel weak, and slow, and unsure.
You’re going to feel uncomfortable.
You’re going to want to give up.
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But what counts is you continue to try. ⁣
You work hard to shift your mindset. ⁣
You listen a little bit less to the self defeating voices. ⁣
May you forever be a work in progress towards improving yourself a little more. ⁣
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Sincerely, ⁣
A girl who is 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 a work in progress on her journey. ⁣

P.S. Pictured is my very first gym photo to a most recent photo. They are about 6 years apart. Progress takes TIME