The Dilemma
Author: earl De Matas
It’s finally here, the moment you’ve been waiting for; that’s right it’s the end of the week. You drive out of the parking lot eager to get your next workout in. You’ve decided which days you’re going to workout and the routines you’re going to follow. Gloves for lifting weights – check. A medicine ball, kettle weights or resistance bands – check. Maybe you already have a treadmill, a bicycle, roller blades or a skipping rope to get some cardio in. Cardio – check. You’ve got the right gear, breathable shorts, shirts, tights and jogging pants. You planned ahead because you know if you don’t feel comfortable, you might lose motivation. But let’s stop there because you don’t have that problem. You’ve come prepared.
The Guilty Delights
You’ve taken some time to research meal preparation, diets, calorie counting, water consumption and meal replacements. You’ve even considered healthy snacks to replace those late night cravings. Guilty delights can take all shapes and forms both sweet and salty. Let’s take a minute to reflect on what we’re talking about here. For example, those black cookies with white filling, chips lightly dusted with cheddar cheese and ice cream of all different flavours. You know what I mean? Of course you do. We’re talking about the snacks that lead you to places of satisfaction and guilt at the same time. We all love them but sadly, they are going to make your transformation almost impossible to achieve. Remember the old saying, you are what you eat. Now, don’t take that literally. You’re not a bag of Cheetos. But you can’t look like you spend a lot of time in the gym, if you spend more time on the couch eating sweet and salty snacks.
The Reality
Remember, it’s going to take time, hard work and dedication to change the way you look. Hard work could be a workout so intense that you can’t wait to get home and jump into the shower. Hard work could also be being conscious of what you eat and focusing on your diet. The reality is chances are it’s going to be both. One thing’s for sure, it won’t be easy to reach for a bag of carrots when there’s a bag of chips in your cupboard, ready to provide immediate gratification to your taste buds. Look at it this way; if it were easy to get in shape, gyms would be out of business. Everyone would have the shape and body that they wanted. But nothing in life comes easy. If you really want something you’re going to have to work for it. Flowers don’t blossom if they’re not watered and athletes won’t perform better if they don’t practice. So we can’t expect working out to be any different.
The Wants And Needs
The dilemma you’re going to have is the push and pull between what you want and what you need to achieve your fitness goals. Your taste buds might be craving sweets but eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to deny them. You just have to be creative and start satisfying them with healthier alternatives. For example, if you are craving sweets, Healthline.com has an article called 29 Healthy Snacks That Can Help You Lose Weight. Number four on the list is a personal favourite. All you have to do is slice an apple and add some peanut butter. This combination can be a great substitute to satisfy your sweet tooth. Note: You might want to use natural peanut butter to really get the benefits of this simple recipe.
The Top 5 in Franziska Spritzler’s 29 Healthy Snacks That Can Help You Lose Weight are:
Mixed Nuts
Red bell pepper with guacamole
Greek yogurt and mixed berries
Apple slices with peanut butter
Cottage cheese with flax seeds and cinnamon
What if you love peanut butter but you don’t like apples? No problem, try replacing the apple with celery instead. HealthyeatingHub.com.au has an article by Kate Freeman called
9 Vegetable Snacks that does just that.
Kate Freeman’s 9 Vegetable Snacks are:
Feta, Cucumber and Tomato Stacks
Raw Broccoli and Yoghurt Mustard Dip
Carrot Sticks with Hummus
Capsicum Cheeks with Herbed Ricotta
Sugar Snap Peas in a Cup
Beetroot, Orange and Pineapple blend
Kale Chips
A Snack Cup of Corn Kernels
Celery with Peanut Butter
According to Kate Freeman’s article 9 Vegetable Snacks, “Vegetable snacks are higher in fibre, vitamins and minerals, and when paired with the right accompaniments, vegetable snacks can be filling and satisfying.” Raise your hand if vegetables aren’t your first choice for a snack.
My hand is up too. But vegetables are a healthy option that can taste better than you think!
To Cheat Or Not To Cheat
After all this talk about eating healthy snacks, let’s address the bag of chips, cookies or chocolate in the cupboard. It’s only natural to wonder, when can I eat what I want? Just to make sure we’re on the right page, I mean the muffins, donuts, chocolate bars, ice cream, chips and everything else. Just joking. So when can you cheat? According to a Q&A with on JillianMichaels.com, Jillian says, “I don’t believe in a free day — I always need some boundaries.” Jillian believes a higher calorie day once a week, will prevent you from losing all the progress you made that week. That makes sense when you think about it. If you’ve been working out all week, eating as healthily as you can, you probably wouldn’t want to binge on junk food ruining all your hard work in one day. Jillian also recommends adding “one “cheat food” to your calorie allowance every day” that way on your “cheat day/high calorie day” you won’t feel like you’ve been waiting all week to eat what you want. Ok enough talk, shouldn’t you be working out?
Resources:
29 Healthy Snacks That Can Help You Lose Weight.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/29-healthy-snacks-for-weight-loss
9 Vegetable Snacks
https://healthyeatinghub.com.au/9-vegetable-snacks/
Cheat Days: Good or Bad?
https://www.jillianmichaels.com/blog/food-and-nutrition/cheat-days-good-or-bad
Food photo created by freepik
Food photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com
