So my water challenge is officially over and so is the box's Paleo Challenge. This was actually a fun challenge and I did pretty well on in until the last couple days where I cheated a bit too much. However, I still feel awesome and we are going to continue eating pretty strict until Texas on the 19th. We've limited ourselves to drinking only 2 nights a week, and I think that's mainly so we don't blow through the $300 of good whiskey we just restocked our bar with. Yummm, Whiskey.
So anyways. I don't notice a big physical change from the water intake but I do feel better in the morning. I'm not sure if it's because we aren't drinking every night, or what. So here I am on day 1. And now on day 33ish. I lost track.
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| Day 1 |
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| Day 33 ish |
So now that the Challenge is over and the holiday's are near I want to continue eating well but have no self control around sweets. I'm sure most people are in the same boat as me so I wrote up some tips to help our clients continue eating healthy. I posted them on the Mercer Island CrossFit blog but thought I'd share them too.
1.) Just because you have junk for one meal doesn't mean you have to throw the entire day away. When you run a red light do you continue doing that for the rest of the day? Probably not. Accept your cheat food and move on to healthier options. It's much easier to stay on the wagon that way.
2.) Plan your cheat meals. When you are in charge of the food, eat healthy and make a plan for a cheat meal. It could be a party over the weekend, a lunch with clients, or a special occasion to celebrate. If you eat healthy at home, it's not as frustrating when you are out and can't find anything healthy. The sporadic cheat meals also give you something to look forward to and you get to appreciate them more.
3.) Don't go back to stocking your pantry and fridge with junk. If it's there, you will eat it, if it's not you won't. Simple as pie...Woops, I mean apples and almond butter.
4.) Don't stop exercising. When we stop eating clean and healthy we feel heavy, groggy, and lethargic and thus don't want to get up and start moving around. It's much easier to stop the healthy cycle than it is to start again. So keep exercising and moving, whatever you do. Exercising makes you want to take care of your body and put healthier things in it.
5.) Don't forget to sleep and hydrate! If you start sleeping worse, it could be because of your diet, and water intake. The minimum water intake is 3/4 body weight in oz. every day, more for active adults (about 2-3 liters). The average adult needs 7-8 hrs of sleep a night which isn't only for our minds to rest but for our bodies to recover from the stress they endure during workouts.
6.) Plan ahead. If you are going to a holiday party, take something you know you will eat, that way if there is no other good options you can at least eat what you brought. When drinking alcohol alternate water and cocktails, stay hydrated and you won't feel quite as bad the next morning, especially if a lot of sugar was consumed the night before.
Remember, if you hate starting over, stop quitting.
