The power of change

Today I lifted some weights and then ate a carby meal. Just like I have been doing 3 times a week for about 8 weeks now. My diet now includes potatoes, beans, rice and other whole grains. All the good carbs, as in, unprocessed or complex carbs - mostly).

My homemade veggie chilli :)

So what? you're probably thinking.

Well, rewind a year or so and I would have done my 30-45 minutes of medium to high intensity cardio, like I did 5 days a week, maybe followed by downing a protein shake. Oh yes, and I avoided carbs like the plague. I did this for a looooong time. Guess where that got me! Yeah not far.

I'm now eating more than I probably ever have, while this is still a mental struggle for me (after years of believing I should be eating less and less), I feel 10x better in myself than before. More energy, better workouts, and I'm definitely stronger, healthier and happier. Oh, and I haven't weighed myself in a long time, because, quite frankly, who cares what the scales say when you feel this awesome. Progress doesn't always have to be visible.

Bottom line is, your routines/habits/beliefs have to change if you want to progress. More to the point, you have to allow them to change (hi, my name's Captain Obvious). Trust in change even if it scares you, it could be the best thing you ever do.

Willpower and small wins

A tub of chocolate mini rolls are staring me in the face on the counter next to my desk at the office.

They've been there all week (it's Wednesday now) and the past two days I have given in and eaten a couple after my slightly sad looking Tupperware salad. If I were to take my own advice, I wouldn't feel guilty for eating them, after all I clearly made the conscious decision myself to pick them up and put them in my mouth. But the difference here is, is that I know if they weren't in sight, in arms reach - I literally didn't even have to stand up out of my chair to grab them - it absolutely wouldn't have happened.

It's realising this now that will stop me from eating any more. Me being the stubborn person I am, will not move them to another part of the office in an attempt to hide them - although it's probably a good idea to be honest - I'll instead exercise my willpower and resist them for the remainder of the week. After all, willpower is like a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it will become. If I get to the end of the week without having touched the mini rolls, I'll count this as a small win for the week and will feel pretty good about it. Like I said in my last post, it's the small wins that will add up to bigger successes.

On that note actually, I was asked by my trainer yesterday what has been a win for me over the past week in my health and fitness journey - as well as being put on the spot, nothing immediately sprung to mind, which wasn't a great start let's be honest. I hadn't particularly had an outstanding week of healthy eating (hence the mini rolls fiasco), and I didn't manage to get to the gym as much as I should have done due to personal reasons. The point being, it's much easier for us to dwell on failures or things we haven't done so well, than appreciate the positive things we've achieved.

So, I've decided to start jotting down in my note pad anything that I have accomplished that I can feel proud of. Not to necessarily show or tell anyone, but again to keep my mind on track and stay positive. Hopefully by the end of the week I can proudly say that I successfully resisted reaching for those damn chocolate treats at work!