The Food Breakup- It's Time To Change Your Relationship With Food!

"I can't take one more bite." "I shouldn't eat anymore." "I should stop." ...and then I eat one more bite. ...and then another. ..."Well, I might as well finish it." That was my internal voice. Let's say you've decided you're going to have one bite of the cake. Cool, you know what you're going to do and I'm not a believer in never eating something like that. Enjoy a bit of cake! But, one bite leads to another. Then another. Then 800 calories later you feel like sh*t! Ask me how I know this. We can learn to get conscious of the moment right after the good taste has passed when we think to ourselves, "I should stop." BAM!!! That's the moment to get conscious! BAM!!! We can learn to recognize that internal voice and ASSAULT your food...or should I say SALT your food. At that moment of willpower, recognize it! Leverage it! Grab a salt shaker and coat the food in salt. I mean so much so that it lo...

Willpower is a fickle friend. Having willpower in the moment of decision can be HIGHLY unreliable! Let's face it, it's too easy to cave in the moment of a "what do I eat" decision and make a choice that doesn't support your goals. This is usually followed by the "why did I just do that?" feeling which hurts our confidence and undermines our ability to get to our goal. Ask me how I know this...because I've done it 1000 times! We can prevent the problem though of having to make a good decision "in the moment." One tool to use is "Predecide". Predecide is simple...and we need simple!  Predecide what you will eat before the moment so you eliminate the emotional decision. When you're in the moment of making a decision on what to eat, emotions play a part of the decision and willpower may not hold up. However, if you know what you want before the moment of decision you take the emotion out of the decision. You just act...you don...

Did I get fitter today? That's all that matters. Did I make progress towards my goal today or not. Let's look at it a bit further. 1) Did I get ____ today? Maybe your goal isn't fitter it's healthier. That's fine, insert the word "healthy" and it becomes, "Did I get healthier today?"  I'm cool with that. Maybe you want to get stronger. Then your question is, "Did I get stronger today?" Make it your own. BTW- I'm a fan of "Did I get fitter today?" 2) Take your question and when you are in the moment of decision as what you will eat or if you should exercise...ask yourself...  "Will this get me closer to or further from fitter/healthy/stronger?" ACT accordingly! It's the decisions in the moment that define us! 3) One more rule. If you have to think about it when you ask yourself the question, "Did I get fitter today?" ...you DIDN'T! Let's act like the person we want to become!...

There are tons and tons of books on diets, but very few on how to stick with the plan. I've found several mental "hacks" that assist in tricking ourselves into better thinking and better healthy decisions. We all know what to do...it's the doing it when we're under pressure part that trips many of us up. Here's my short list of mind hacks. Over time I will add more details to each of these. Practice the 2 bite rule- If you want something, eat two (reasonable) bits then throw it out. Get comfortable throwing out food! 80% of the taste comes from 20% of the calories. Predecide - Before you walk into any restaurant, know what you're going to eat. You don't even need to see a menu, because you know what you want. Don't tempt yourself by opening the menu. Click here to read the full blog. You bite it, you write it- Track everything you eat BEFORE you eat it.  Celebrate 10 victories for every 1 defeat. - If you stop at McDonalds, celebrate out...

Many people have asked themselves, between diet and exercise, what's most important. I think we all know the answer here, it's diet. I've checked this out with many, many fit people and while the percentages vary most people say it's about 70% diet and 30% exercise. This is a good exercise to do in real life or at least to imagine right now. Picture a mini-snickers. I mean the really, really small one that is bite-sized and about the size of your thumb from the knuckle to the tip. That puppy has 45 calories. Take one (and only one Snickers) to the gym and get on some equipment that measures calories (or if you like use a fitness watch that measures calories). Now pop that little snickers in your mouth, chew it up and enjoy it. Yum! That took about 15 seconds. Now get to work exercising and don't stop until you hit 45 calories. You'll really appreciate what 45 calories take to burn off. Just a few examples for me a 183 lb male: 5 minutes running 4 minutes ...

Here is a dirty little secret. It's not diet or exercise that will lead you to success. You're probably thinking I'm going to trick you by saying...it's both! You're wrong. Ask yourself what every diet has program has in common. Most all diets work. You see people who have success with everything whether it's Weight Watchers, Adkins, Keto, NutriSystems or whatever plan is out there today. Here's what they all have in common...tracking! Tracking is the #1 tool for success. Here is your McGraw's Law, "If you bite it, you write it." We need to get conscious of the calories and macros in everything we eat. With that, we can make much better choices. Tracking has never been easier. Currently, I use MyFitnessPal and I love it. Something better may come out down the road but for now, it works just fine. My current streak is 478 straight days of logging everything I've eaten. Think that's impressive? There are many people over 1,000 days an...

If you were going to war, you wouldn't want to go by yourself. You'd raise an army. You would recruit people who share your cause. People who have experience. People who've been in combat before and know how to defeat an enemy. The same holds true for you. At the time of this post, I'm 49. I began to win the war at 47. At 47 I started to build my army. Here are some people to consider: Spouse or Roomate- They're around you a TON! Say no more. Fitness Trainer- These good souls not only know exercise, but diet and mindset. Nutrition Coach- You don't need to pay someone to advise you on nutrition, but you can. Keep in mind everyone has an opinion. Here is a McGraw Law, "Don't take diet or exercise advice from anyone not as fit as who you want to become." I created this rule after having dinner with a relative who scolded me for entering my food into my journal at the table. They are at least 75 pounds overweight. Hence the new rule.  ...