[STOP] Feeling Guilty

by Jessie Manderson | Apr 26, 2020 | Uncategorized

Sometimes things may get in the way of progress, as life likes to throw us curve balls. But it is important to recognize those things.

I know some days we don’t feel motivated or it’s just easier to take another route. Just remember why you started it and who you’re doing it for… You!

I know when I’m trying to stay on track with my nutrition and someone offers me a cookie (or cheesecake!) I can almost never refuse it. I used to feel super guilty and I feel like I’ve put on an extra 10lbs of fat from one too many sweets. Which then led to me feeling down. Then I would join a spin class to burn off that cheesecake or those cookies.

From what I’m learning during my nutrition course, is that the only thing unhealthy right here, are my thoughts. If someone else told me they went to a spin class to burn off a couple cookies they had at lunch, I would think they were insane!

I’ve been tracking my calories, which I will go into on a separate post, for about 6 months now and have been finding that I can fit cheesecake into my calories for the day along with nutritious food for my main meals, and not feel guilty at all! Sometimes your body actually needs these high carbs and high fats once in a while to balance your hormones.

Here are a couple of tips to help you avoid the guilt/binge eating/obsessing:

• Eat more wholesome foods – so you don’t feel so hungry that you need to eat the whole jar of cookies
• Add more veggies to your plate – fill up on your micronutrients
• Use your hands as a guide to portion control – eat a cupped handful of cookies rather than the whole box
• Drink 0.25 – 0.5L of water with your meals
• Chew your food slowly – this also helps with your digestion
• Substitute – Diet coke instead of coke; soda water instead of diet coke
• Go for a walk – especially while in lockdown so you’re not just sat at home eating
• Be mindful – are you just bored/stressed/lonely? Can you think of something better to eat instead?

I encourage you to pick one tip from the list above to work on and get consistent at doing.

If you can’t struggle with one tip, think of how you can make it easier or pick a different one to start working on. Most importantly, don’t beat yourself up and pay for a spin class because you ate too much cheesecake.

Jess x