Did you think that Dr. Phil had stopped by for a guest appearance on my blog? Nah, I’m not that famous….YET 😉 But, his infamous question, “How’s that Workin for Ya?”, is a relevant question to ask ourselves as it pertains to our current diet and exercise plans to see if they are really working for us or against us! So, let’s dive in a little further!
Can you imagine yourself eating and exercising the way you are right now, a year or two from now? If you answered, “NO WAY JOSE,” to that question, than I would bet that you are eating foods that you don’t enjoy and/or depriving yourself from the foods that you do.
If you aren’t enjoying exercise or being consistent with it, you might be participating in exercise that is boring to you, spending TOO much time working out per day, or the exercise is so intense that it just down right hurts your body!
This cycle of food deprivation and overexercising can only be kept up for a short amount of time before it all comes crashing to a halt; right along any of the results that might’ve been attained from it, too! Not to mention, the mental stress of feeling like a failure and having to feel like we have to start over, AGAIN! Let’s see how we can turn this all around.
What I’ve found works for myself and most people that consistently eat healthy and exercise, is that they are ENJOYING the foods they eat and the exercise they are doing, and they are CONSTANTLY EXPERIMENTING with new ideas and concepts in these areas. They are not afraid to try something new and see what type of results they could get from it.
[bctt tweet=”Please don’t do any workout or diet that you don’t enjoy, the results will be short-lived; but always be open to experimenting with both!”]
The Whole 30 Challenge Experiment – Talk about ALL or Nothing!
A perfect example of this for me was when I did the Whole 30 Challenge. This is a great program for learning about food sensitivities, how sugar and processed foods affect the body negatively, reducing your cravings for sugar, and learning a lot of great recipes when cooking with whole foods.
However, it is really RESTRICTIVE, too! There were a lot of changes to make all at once, and I was already eating a whole foods based diet. No alcohol, sugar, dairy, grains, or legumes for 30 days. Like I said, I was open to experimenting with it to see what I could learn from it and how my body would feel, but I could never eat this way long term with that many food groups cut out! It just makes you too much of a Social Weirdo and takes WAY TOO MUCH MENTAL FOCUS (which equals = NOT SUSTAINABLE)! That’s why it’s only meant to be done for 30 days!
After that, you are encouraged to adopt the Paleo Diet, which I’ve found to still be too restrictive for me and my lifestyle, but others thrive on it! However, you’ll never know if you don’t experiment, right! I still use a lot of the recipes from the challenge, I just choose to add grains, cheese, beans, and drink a little red wine 😉 Because that is what is sustainable for me!
Restrictive Meal Plans Just Don’t Work
Planning to start a restrictive diet plan that has a bunch of foods you’d never normally eat is planning on setting yourself up for a failure! Focusing on too many changes with our food at once will only drain our willpower even further, especially if you don’t like the foods on the current meal plan.
Our Willpower is already challenged on a daily basis for most people at work catching up on Emails, starting a new diet or exercise routine, facing new deadlines, & putting up with interruptions from annoying co-workers.
No wonder your WILLPOWER is drained by 12 noon and your headed to McDonalds for lunch. Whoops! There goes my diet, too…”I guess I’ll just start next week, we’ll say to ourselves.”
This is how the ALL or NOTHING approach keeps cycling and cycling, and the whole time you’re thinking, “If I just find the right meal plan, I’ll increase my Willpower and I’ll be successful.”
This just isn’t true. Meal plans don’t increase willpower, but automated HABITS do! The more automated my eating is, the less I have to think about it, the more willpower I have left to use when faced with a tempting craving or food!
The WILLPOWER Diet Starts Oct. 1, 2015!
Because I’m SO against Meal Plans and believe they don’t work, I’m SO EXCITED to be starting my 8 week Habits-Based Group Coaching Program called The WILLPOWER Diet. This program is designed to increase your self-control and reduce your stress through the automation of KEY Nutritional Habits practiced ONE at a time.
This program offers Self-Monitoring, Support, Accountability, and CONSISTENCY, all of which are important to reaching your goals, and were missing from the restrictive meal plans you’ve tried in the past.
I want you to be a part of this program if WILLPOWER is something that you’re struggling with, too! Join the WAIT LIST & receive priority access and exclusive deals not available to the public ——> HERE!
Sustainability is Key When Choosing a Plan
So what is the point of all of this…. If you aren’t enjoying the way you are eating or the exercise you are doing, or you can’t see yourself doing it a year or two from now, CHANGE SOMETHING! This is the only way we will find what is a sustainable plan for us.
Today and moving forward, let’s all keep asking ourselves that infamous Dr. Phil question, “How’s that Workin for Ya?” If something doesn’t make us feel good, or you are dreading something, then change it up!
Until next time, let me know in the comments below what your biggest struggle with restrictive diets &/or meal plans has been in the past.
Thanks for stopping by,
Tommie
P.S. Get on the Wait List & get more info about The WILLPOWER Diet if your done with starving yourself or making too many changes at once. See how much more relaxed you will feel when you FOCUS on one habit at a time. Sign up HERE!