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7 Ways to Stop Craving Junk Food

1 Comment / Nutrition, Training

Ramp up your resolve

One reason most diets fail is that long-term goals can be deceptively difficult: When the plan is to watch what you eat for the next six months, chugging one caramel latte with whipped cream seems like a minor slip. To avoid that kind of thinking, commit to eating well for a fixed amount of time that you’re 100 percent confident you can manage, even if it’s just a few days.

“Once you make it to your goal date, start over,” says Mary Vernon, M.D., chair of the board of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians. “This establishes the notion that you can be successful and gives you a chance to notice that eating better makes you feel better, reinforcing your desire to continue.”

Find meaningful motivation

If the main purpose of your diet is cosmetic–i.e., to look amazing in boy shorts–you’re unlikely to stick with it for the long haul.The solution: “Arm yourself with additional motivators,” says Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D., of the University of Connecticut. He suggests keeping a daily journal in which you monitor migraines, heartburn, acne, canker sores, and sleep quality in addition to body measurements and the number on the scale.

“Discovering that your new diet improves the quality of your life and health is powerful motivation,” Volek says.

Move on after a mistake

OK, you overindulged. What’s the next step? “Forget about it,” says James Newman, a nutritionist at Tahlequah City Hospital, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, who followed his own advice to shed 300 pounds. (That’s right, three hundred.) “One meal doesn’t define your diet, so don’t assume that you’ve failed or fallen off the wagon,” he says.Institute a simple rule: Follow any “cheat” meal with at least five healthy meals and snacks. That ensures that you’ll be eating right more than 80 percent of the time.

Roll out of bed and into the kitchen

Sure, you’ve heard this advice before. But consider that if you sleep for six to eight hours and then skip breakfast, your body is essentially running on fumes by the time you get to work. And that sends you desperately seeking sugar, which is usually pretty easy to find.The most convenient foods are typically packed with sugar (doughnuts, lattes) or other quickly digested carbohydrates (McMuffins, cinnamon buns). Which brings us to our next strategy.

Restock your shelves

How many times have you driven to the store in the middle of the night to satisfy a craving? Probably not nearly as often as you’ve raided the fridge. You’re more likely to give in to a craving when the object you desire is close at hand. So make sure it’s not: Toss the junk food and restock your cupboard and fridge with almonds and other nuts, cheese, fruit and vegetables, and canned tuna, chicken, and salmon. And do the same at work.”By eliminating snacks that don’t match your diet and providing plenty that do, you’re far less likely to find yourself at the doughnut-shop drive-thru or the vending machine,” says Christopher Mohr, Ph.D., R.D., president of Mohr Results, a fitness and nutrition consulting firm in Louisville, Kentucky.

Think like a biochemist

Cookies made with organic cane juice might sound like something your yoga teacher would eat, but they won’t help her fit into her Lycra pants. Junk food by any other name is still junk. Ditto for lots of “health foods” in the granola aisle. “Natural” sweeteners like honey raise blood sugar just like the white stuff.”If you’re going to eat cookies, accept that you’re deviating from your plan, and then revert to your diet afterward,” Berkowitz says. Kidding yourself will only get you into trouble.

Spot hunger impostors

Have a craving for sweets even though you ate just an hour ago? Imagine sitting down to a large, sizzling steak instead. “If you’re truly hungry, the steak will sound good, and you should eat,” says Richard Feinman, Ph.D., a professor of biochemistry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. “If it doesn’t sound good, your brain is playing tricks on you.”His advice: Change your environment, which can be as easy as stretching at your desk or turning your attention to a different task.

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Can other drinks such as diet sodas and herbal tea count towards my 8 glasses of water for the day?

Nutrition, Training
Q Can other drinks such as diet sodas and herbal tea count towards my 8 glasses of water for the day?
A The latest recommendations from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science, Dietary Reference Intake for Electrolytes and Water say:”The fluids consumed do not have to be only water. Individuals can obtain their fluids from a variety of beverages and foods. Contrary to popular opinion, consumers do not need to consume ‘eight glasses of water a day’ to meet their fluid needs.”

However my own personal opinion, particularly for people trying to lose weight, is to encourage additional water intake whenever possible. I feel it helps to cleanse the body when weight loss and fat breakdown is occurring. I also know that it helps to keep the hands and mouth busy, so snacking is less. This is a form of behavior modification. I personally know that many people feel better when at least 4-6 glasses of plain old H2O is consumed to help meet total fluid needs.

Written by Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian

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De-Stress in 3 Minutes or Less

1 Comment / Nutrition

Stop Emotional Eating Before It Starts

— By Dean Anderson, Behavioral Psychology Expert

What is the single, most common problem that most dieters face when trying to lose weight? Will power? Nah. Temptation? Sometimes. Emotional eating? Bingo! That’s why it takes so much more than good intentions and information about nutrition and exercise to be successful. The ability to manage difficult situations and feelings effectively—without turning to food and eating—is a necessary foundation for a successful weight loss plan and healthy lifestyle.

Fortunately, there are many proactive steps you can take to keep functioning on all your mental cylinders during tough times. These steps range widely from basic relaxation techniques to the development of a reliable support network. Other options include:

  • Keeping a food journal to help you identify your emotional eating triggers
  • Cultivating mental and emotional well-being through practices like meditation, mindfulness, massage, and yoga
  • Developing good problem solving skills
  • Turning to the Message Boards for help and support when you need it; offering help to others as a way to get your mind off your own troubles and gain a little perspective on things

But all of these things take time, and there are many instances when you need something you can do right now, to keep yourself grounded, focused and able to make good decisions. After all, you don’t always have time to take a walk, relax in a hot bath or call a friend to talk things over. That’s what we’ll be talking about here—a 3-minute trick for handling stressful situations in the moment.

Minute 1: Stay Grounded
Emotional eating happens when you lose your connection to your grounded self. Stress itself is not what makes you reach for something to eat. In fact, stress is often a good thing and your grounded self knows this! We need the physical stress of exercise to keep our bodies in good shape just as we need the stress of intellectual and emotional challenges to keep our minds healthy.

Nine times out of ten, what really leads to emotional eating is getting caught in a “mind storm” of worst-case scenarios, projections, misinterpretations, and all the emotional overreactions that come with these thoughts. This “storm” turns a manageable challenge into something that makes you feel helpless, overwhelmed, ashamed or afraid—and sends you to the kitchen to find something to stuff those extreme feelings. When you can stay grounded in the moment of stress, you have many more options.

Here are some simple ideas to keep you grounded when something (or someone) pushes your buttons and your feelings start to spiral out of control:

  • Take a few deep breaths. (You can also count to 10, if that helps.) If the stressful situation involves someone else, take a timeout and agree to continue the discussion in a few minutes.
  • Remind yourself where you are. Take a look around, noticing and naming the colors and shapes in the space around you.
  • Notice the physical sensations you are experiencing. Whether it’s a sinking feeling, turmoil in your stomach, tension in your hands or jaw, restricted breathing, or heat on the back of your neck, try to name the feelings that go with the sensation. Is that sinking feeling fear, or dread? Is the heat a symptom of anger?

The idea here is to stay in your body and in the moment—with what’s real—instead of going inside your mind where all those unreal scenarios are just waiting to get spun out-of-control.

Minute 2: Reality Check
Once you’re calm enough to start thinking productively, put all those thoughts that are clamoring for attention inside your head through a quick reality check. Here are several very common thought patterns that have no place in reality. Do any of these apply to you?

  • All or nothing thinking
    Example: You go over your calorie limit or eat something on your “forbidden” list, and then decide to keep eating because you’ve already “blown it” for today. Reality: Weight loss is not a one-day event. If you stop overeating now, you’ll gain less and have less to re-lose later. That’s something to feel good about!
  • Reading your own thoughts into someone else’s words
    Example: Someone made a mildly critical or unsupportive remark to you, and you feel completely devastated. Reality: The more bothered you are by such remarks, the more likely it is that you are being overly critical of yourself. When you treat yourself with respect, what others say won’t matter nearly so much.
  • Either-Or thinking
    Example: You make a mistake or have a bad day and feel like a complete and hopeless failure. Reality: No one does well all the time. Mistakes are a necessary and valuable opportunity to learn—if you don’t waste them by getting down on yourself.
  • Taking care of other people’s business
    Example: Something is going badly for someone you care about, and you feel responsible, or pressured to fix it. Reality: People need to learn from their own problems. You aren’t doing anyone a favor by trying to fix things just to make yourself feel better.

Minute 3: Putting Things in Perspective
Most common problems that you face in everyday life are much easier to handle when you keep them in perspective and avoid making mountains out of molehills. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to make sure you aren’t in the mountain-making business:

  • How big a deal is this, anyway? If I knew I was going to die in a week, would this be something I would want to spend this minute of my remaining time on?
  • Will any bad things happen if I postpone thinking about this until I have more time to figure things out?
  • Do I have all the information I need to decide how to respond to this? Do I really know what’s going on here, or am I making assumptions? Am I worrying about things that might not even happen? What do I need to check out before taking action?
  • Is there anything I can do right now that will change or help this situation?
  • Am I trying to control something I can’t, like what other people think, say, or do?
  • Have I really thought through this problem, and broken it down into manageable pieces I can handle one-at-a-time?

Use this approach whenever your thoughts or situations begin to feel overwhelming, and you’ll quickly find that the mountains that seem impossible at first can quickly morph into what they really are—manageable hills that you DO have the ability to climb. All it takes is three little minutes of your time.

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5 Tips to Staying Motivated

Weekly Motivation

Newton’ First Law is the law of Interia. It goes something like this – “Objects in motion will stay in motion & objects at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force.” Now I’m sure you’re wondering how Newtonian physics relates to your motivation levels? Well let me tell you.

We’ve all felt the power of being in a training rhythm. We get a few positive days of training in and we start looking forward to the next one. If we miss a workout we’re even more motivated about making up for it the next day. We’re psyched about what we’re accomplishing with every workout and we’re reaping the rewards of our efforts. More energy, looking better, loads of confidence with a clear mind.  I for one am just plain miserable if I don’t do something physical every day. This is the upside of inertia.

Sadly there are a lot more people on the downside. Trying to break out of sedentary habits; exercise is uncomfortable at best; things shake and bounce, and unusual levels of soreness accompany workouts. In this state, the body is doing its best to send very persuasive, negative messages to just stop what we’re trying to start! Simply put, the whole effort feels a bit like Sisyphus struggling to push his stone uphill. These are tough conditions to fight through and perserverence is a challenge to be sure.

So as you can see, inertia is really a double edged sword.

Several other important characteristics of inertia to consider are that:

  1. The bigger the object is, the more external force it takes to get it moving in a different direction
  2. On earth, inertia is continually affected by gravity which results in friction.

Training has its own gravity that slows it down and conspires to siphon off our positive inertia and bring the whole show to a stop. This friction takes many forms:

  • Family obligations
  • Work blowing up
  • Not enough sleep
  • Travel
  • Poor energy / nutrition

Any one of these things can threaten our motivation.
So what can we do to keep ourselves on track and achieving our goals. Here are 5 Tips to Staying Motivated

1. The hardest step is the first one!
Ironman legend Scott Tinley once wrote “… and so I went for a run, because I’ve never come back from a run feeling worse than when I left.” How many times have we felt unmotivated and lethargic but then we forced ourself to do the workout  –  Within minutes of beginning we feel a giant charge of energy? By the end we are often overcome with a sense of well being, thrilled that we expended the effort and wondering how we ever struggled to get going. This is a lesson that it seems needs to be learned over and over again. The reality is that “I don’t feel like it.” are words spoken by someone sitting, not someone training. Know that if you can just get going, you’re going to feel GREAT!

2. An overnight success is the result of consistent toil.
Louisa May Alcott wrote that “Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they may lead.” Long term goals are powerful but the reality is that they cannot be reached in a single leap. It takes many small seemingly insignificant steps to attain something truly significant. To this point focus some energy on identifying simple, attainable short term goals. “By the end of this month I will complete a set of low rows with my feet at the anchor point.” or “I will train 3 times this week” or “Today I will complete this workout in 30 minutes”. It is these daily, weekly and monthly goals that lead to sustained motivation and the realization of those highest aspirations.

3. Don’t make excuses, Make it happen!
Excuses are what happens when the “friction” outlined earlier wins. Let’s face it, life’s busy and it will lay down it’s challenges. It’s inevitable, much like the following quote “Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up, depends on the stuff you are made of.” So are you going to succomb to life’s challenges or will you rise above them? Here are some examples:

  1. Your day blows up at the office. Have a short metabolic “contingency workout” that you jam through on these days as opposed to blowing your whole session off. A shortened workout is better than none at all!
  2. You have a business trip – Train in your hotel room before or after your day. Before you leave commit to doing a certain number of workouts while you’re on the trip
  3. Your kids have a soccer game during your usual workout time – do some bodyweight exercises,get your training in and watch your kids at the same time.
  4. There is an athlete I work with who is an exec with a demanding job, two busy kids and one of the best age-group triathletes in the country. How does he fit in 25 – 30 hour training weeks on top of everything else? One of the ways is by involving his family. His kids ride their bicycles next to him on his training runs giving him interval splits, yelling encouragement and feeding him water.
  5. This week the Los Angeles Lakers will play Boston Celtics in Game 6-7 of the NBA Finals – you can bet I’ll be watching BUT I’ll also be doing one of my workouts to make sure I can enjoy the game without missing my training.

I think you can see where I’m headed here. There is almost always a way to make it happen!

4. Peer Pressure Works
While you might be perfectly happy to hit snooze 26 times at the 5:30 AM alarm if it is only yourself to answer to, this scenario is quite different if you’ve planned to meet someone to train with. Knowing the phone will ring and you will face a “Where the hell are you?” is a sure way to respond to that alarm the first time. Find a workout partner or hire a trainer. This external pressure to commitment does wonders to keep your adherence high.
Another tactic is to tell your family, friends and co-workers what your are setting out to achieve. This will serve to elevate your motivation as now that it’s out in the open you will have to rise to the occassion and produce results or face the spectre of admitting defeat publically. One final way which I was introduced to through John Berardi of Precision Nutrition is outlined  in “The Blackmail Diet” by John Bear. In this case Dr. Bear arranged for $5000 to be paid in trust to the Nazi Party unless he lost 70 lbs in a year. He ended up losing 76 lbs and the Nazi Party missed their payday.

5. Commitment, Discipline & Sacrifice
I’ve always been humbled by the achievments of many of my clients. They’ve excelled in their field and made amazing contributions and to do so have shown unusual levels of commitment and discipline. Every one of them has made sigificant personal sacrifices to reach the levels they have. Unfortunately in many cases, one of these sacrifices has been their health. In his book “Outliers”, one of the arguments that Malcolm Gladwell makes is that it takes about 10000 hours of practice to achieve true excellence in any field, regardless of innate talent. Now 10000 hours is a lot of time. It works out to almost 10 years, practicing for 3 hours per day – EVERY DAY!
I’ve always found it interesting that my clients have stuggled with turning the same lens that they use to achieve success in business on their health.

Success in health requires the same commitment, discipline and sacrifice that success in any other field requires. You have to commit to the process of eating well and training regularly and with intensity. You have to muster the discipline that is required to get your workout done, day in and day out and not succomb to poor food choices. In order to have this discipline you also have to be willing to miss out on a few things that others don’t. Wake up an hour earlier to get your workout in, pay a little bit more for organic food or locally grown fruits and vegetables. A close friend of mine used to have the mantra of “Weights before dates!”

Now am I saying you have to be ready to commit to 3 hours a day of training or you might as well forget about it? Of course not. In fact – quite the opposite. 30 minutes of good focused exercise per day on the TRX can bring astonishing results, especially when combined with solid nutrition. I will say that the reality is that most people don’t achieve their fitness goals because they do not hold up their end of the bargain when it comes to applying a modest yet consistent measure of commitment, discipline and sacrifice. Understanding that this is a requirement and taking personal responsiblity for the outcome is a great way to help keep yourself motivate.

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