Troubleshooting Common Diet Problems – Part Deux

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In Part One, we spoke about ways to battle hunger and cravings. We talked about how to prevail over the food ruts, how to travel without wrecking your progress and options for handling social situations. Lets dive right in and talk about four more hurdles you may have to jump over while trying to shed some bodyfat. 

Food availability

I don’t know about you, but often times I give myself way too much credit in the willpower department. I’ll buy a few Lara Bars on Monday and stick them in the cupboard so that I can have one… okay, okay, fine – TWO! sheesh … on Saturday as part of my off-plan meal. But by Tuesday, all I can think about is those tasty friggin’ bars and I end up munching them throughout the week.
What is the logical solution? Don’t keep things in the house that aren’t a part of your plan. While it’s fun to think that we are willpower warriors, fact of the matter is that we aren’t. We are human and temptation is a bitch.
*Stay tuned for my upcoming post on willpower – it’s going to be a doozie!

Food prep
Nearly every time a client tells me that they fell off the wagon is due to lack of preparation. Let me set the scene: You’ve had an extremely long day at work and are starving. You haven’t prepped any food ahead of time and because you are too tired to hit the grocery store you either:

• Hit a drive through, or
• Go home and dive headfirst into a bowl of Cocoa Crispies

Look, I know food prep is a huge pain in the ass. I absolutely loathe cooking but it’s a necessary evil. I always have a couple of tupperwares of cooked meat in the fridge, along with plenty of cooked and/or chopped veggies. Regardless of what type of nutritional protocol you are following (multiple meals per day or Intermittent Fasting), I’d encourage you to have some type of food prepped and ready to go. Most people simply don’t have the time to prepare and cook food as they go, and that is where I’ve seen most people run into problems. At the very least, stock your fridge with a few rotisserie chickens and a couple of bags of broccoli slaw like my girl Neghar does.

Sleep
I know what you’re thinking. “Ahhh, here she goes, harping on the importance of sleep again.” Dang skippy I am, because it’s that important! Lets pause to think back to the times when our hunger has been at an all-time high and our willpower was at it’s lowest low.
Probably:

• Stumbling out of the Vegas club at 5:15am when Jack in the Box actually sounds good, or
• When you haven’t gotten enough sleep! 

Lack of sleep can cause a plethora of health problems but to stay in line with today’s topic – it’s going to make you hungrier and cloud your judgement and all of a sudden that box of Pop-Tarts in the breakroom at work looks appealing. If you are serious about changing your body then you must put as much emphasis on quality sleep as you do your training and your nutrition. It all goes hand-in-hand.

Soda pop
I worked in an office setting for 7 years that had a diner and a convenience store on property. Every morning (at 6am, mind you) I’d set my stuff on my desk and trot down to the store to get – are you ready for this? – a 64oz Diet Pepsi. I’d guzzle the entire thing and by noon I’d be ready for a refill. Thankfully I kicked my soda habit years ago but sometimes we need a little fizz! 
Enter sparkling water! It’s heavenly over ice with a squeeze of lemon, lime, grapefruit or orange! If you are trying to kick a soda habit, I’d suggest you give it a try. It’s so refreshing and a perfect substitution for pop!

The nitty gritty of dieting is this: it can be challenging and will likely be uncomfortable at times. However, there are things that we can do to help get through the tough moments and the trick is learning what works for you!

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