Eating Healthy - Easy or Hard?

Last night I was interacting on one of the forums, when I came across a thread where someone said, “Eating is the easy part, training is the real challenge.” Then the person went on to say that people should get over the eating part and just do it, that the real test is under the iron bar at the gym.

I disagree with him and here’s why:

Eating is a psychological game.

People turn to food for comfort. They turn to food when dealing with emotions; when things go well, they turn to food for reward. Those who had to fight the battle of losing fat know how difficult and challenging it can be. It’s a very different type of a battle than trying to add a few extra pounds of lean muscle.

Another important consideration is that training lasts about 45-60 minutes on average, whereas nutrition lasts the whole day (about 15 hours). For the most part, people can handle the physical challenge in the gym for 60 minutes a couple of times a week, but things get tough when they have to stick to a new nutritional plan for their whole lives.

Adapting to a new lifestyle and new eating habits is hard. Switching from your favorite foods, which probably consisted of packaged junk food with minimal nutritional value, to having to cook your own food and preparing meals in advance, can be overwhelming. This is what makes the eating part hard for most, harder than the exercising part. Also, getting used to tasting food that is closer to its natural state is difficult for most people.

As hard as it is adapting to a new set of habits, it isn’t impossible if you have the will.

Four tips on how to make this work for you:

1. Social Support: sharing cooking recipes, supporting each other during the tough times and celebrating your wins with friends is important.
   

2. Kitchen set-up: you should not have any temptation foods in your house. Foods that don’t support your goals and your new nutritional habits should not be around. If the food is available, you know you will eventually eat it.
   

3. Execution (Follow-through?): that vision you have created for yourself has to be backed up with action. Make sure that your current habits match your dream. If your dream is a physical transformation, then having sugary cereal for breakfast does not support that dream.
   

4. Consistency: don’t expect changes to just happen – you have to make them happen, slowly, a step at a time, but with commitment and regularity.

Wrap-up:

In order to make this work for you, you’ll have to work at it yourself. Visualize your goal and think of all the great things to come when you achieve it. Strategize for success, stay consistent and be excellent!