2 Easy Tips For Healthy Eating

I had just finished up running really hard intervals on the track and I said to Darren, “I didn’t think I could finish. My mind was screaming at me to give up.”

I’ve written about this before, but four of us coaches are training for a competition coming up. The workout for us was 16 intervals of 200 meters on the track. We had to complete the 200m sprint under a certain time or the interval didn’t count.

If one of us didn’t complete the sprint in time, everyone had to do it again – that’s part of being on a team. You can’t let the person down next to you.

When we got to round 13, one of us in the group started dry-heaving. We were pushing our bodies to the limit.

During this moment of pain, I had two thoughts. These thoughts got me through the last four rounds:

“Don’t let your teammates down and make them run another round.”

“This feeling is only going to last for 15 more minutes.”

Staging

My first thought, “Don’t let your teammates down and make them run another round” is a form of staging. Allow me to explain.

“Staging” is purposely setting up the environment around you. Think of a movie set: the director will “stage” a scene in order to evoke a feeling in the viewer.

Right now, I have a goal of competing in Brazil next year for a CrossFit competition. I recognize that in order to reach this goal, my training sessions need to evoke these “pukey” kind of feelings. I know I can’t get to that point in workouts by myself. So, I’ve staged my environment by training with three people who have the same goal.

For nutrition, you can also use staging as a form of strategy. Let’s face it, if you have Oreos in the pantry, you’re going to cave on Friday night. You will reach a moment of weakness and grab a few. Then, you’ll say, “I’ve already messed up, might as well eat an entire sleeve of these now…”

Refusing to bring junk food into the house is properly staging your environment. That way, in your moments of weakness, you won’t have an option of cheating on your diet.

Intervals

The second thought I had during this workout, “This feeling is only going to last for 15 more minutes” can be used for your second healthy eating tip.

An effective strategy when going on a new diet is to perform the new plan in intervals.

Instead of committing to a diet for six months, simply commit to it for six days. After the sixth day, allow yourself to have some of those Oreos. Then, repeat another round of six healthy eating days in a row.

Intervals are effective when it comes to training because you can push the intensity before taking a rest. The same can be applied to your nutrition. Push the intensity for six days of very clean eating. Then allow yourself a “rest” by eating what you love the most.

Conclusion

Make it simple.

Stage your environment by not bringing junk food into the house.

Perform intervals of eating well for a period of time before allowing yourself a cheat meal during the “rest” portion.

When the going gets tough and your mind is screaming to stop, you will succeed in your weight-loss goals with these two tricks.

Tyler