Excuses, excuses

I bet you know at least one person who makes excuses for why they can't possibly do any exercise or why they can't possibly eat healthily. I sure do.

Some people moan and complain about how they are fat or tired or bloated or that they don't exercise enough or that they keep getting ill or getting health problems, but every suggestion you give for improving their health is rebutted with 20 reasons why they can't do that. What is that about?!

My Mom is like this, I love her to pieces and I worry about her because she is always so stressed and she is always complaining about her lack of sleep/exercise, and how she wants to lose weight.

The problem is that she will come up with every excuse she can think of for why she can't improve all these things! I know that she is always very busy shuttling people to various places, working full time, doing housework, grocery shopping and whatever else, so I suggested that she fit in 10 minutes of exercise each morning or night to help her get more exercise and lose weight. She had about 10 excuses why she couldn't do this. I then suggested that she try eating less grain/starch and more vegetables with her meals. She told me she couldn't because my Dad insists on having some kind of stodge with his dinner and that she didn't want to cook two meals every night. I told her she didn't have to cook two meals, just cook one healthy meal with protein and veggies, and then do a portion of grain or potato to put on my Dad's plate. I told her this is what I do when my fiance wants something like that with dinner. She then said that she couldn't because... and I stopped listening.

If you're going to complain about the state of your health or really anything about yourself, you need to take action and do something to fix the problem! What is the point of complaining about it, if you refuse to do anything about it? I don't believe that there is anyone in any situation who cannot do anything to improve their health. What's 10 minutes a day of exercise? What's the extra effort in leaving the bad carbs off your plate at a family meal? Zilch. I just don't get it. There is always something you can do to help yourself. And if you really won't change a thing for yourself, well stop b*tchin' people!

FitDay - know what you're eating

I signed up for FitDay last week, having seen it used by Mark over at MDA to demonstrate what his daily food intake looks like, and I have to say, it really is great.

Now, I'm not one of those people who has to know exactly what they're eating, I don't measure out my portions and I don't obsessively control amounts or types of foods that I eat. I eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm sated, and I'll eat whatever Primal food I fancy at the time. When I cook I sorta just make up recipes as I go along, "hey, some almond flour would be good to thicken up this homemade tomato sauce, and some cumin would bring some awesome flavour..." but at the moment, because I'm being careful not to go over about 50g of carbs per day (admittedly pretty hard with just vegetables anyway), I find that FitDay is very useful to keep track of how many of each block I'm eating (protein, carbs, fat) and I can make sure that I'm getting mostly fat, then protein, then carbs. Of course that doesn't count on IF days, when I'm not eating at all.

Anyway so if you're a Primal newbie, or if you like knowing what you're consuming, or even if you're just kinda interested to know how your daily intake measures up, head on over to FitDay and sign up for free.

Here's one of my days, as a lovely example of a good Primal diet!

Fat (64%) Carbs (11%)

Protein (24%) Alcohol (0%)

Weekend survival

A lot of us seem to struggle a lot more with keeping up our good healthy habits when the weekend rolls around. I am definitely one of these people. For the last few months or more, as soon as I'd get home from work on a Friday night, I'd completely forget my healthy eating habits and reach for the pizza and chips. Why is that?

 

I think it has a lot to do with wanting to relax on the weekend, those precious days away from the office to spend time doing things we want to do. Like eating things that comfort us. Hmmm. I think emotions heavily influence this type of destructive behaviour. I have, as I mentioned in my very first post here, vowed to ditch my bad food ways and become a real Primal girl once and for all. So, I managed my first weekend in a really really long time without non Primal, non healthy food, and I still had a good weekend! Here are my tips for a healthy, on-track weekend:

 

1. Listen to your body. Notice when you are really hungry (stomach growling etc.) and only eat when you get to that point. It's not enough to simply eat healthy, Primal foods. If you're eating for the sake of eating, or to try and quell an emotion, such as boredom, you're still engaging in unhealthy habits. Cut it out! Be aware of whether you are actually hungry or not, and eat accordingly.
2. If you're craving something, reach for a healthy, Primal alternative. Really want a bowl full of sugary-sweet cereal for breakfast? Grab a piece of fruit or a bowl of berries. Need something salty? How about some sauteed spinach. Really want something starchy? If you simply must, go for better healthier options like parsnips or sweet potato - very satisfying. It may be that you've got a hankering for these things because your body is trying to tell you that you're lacking something (nutrients, not sugar and processing!) so try to give what it actually wants.
3. Get out of the house and have some fun! If it's a nice day out, go for a long walk with your other half or kids, and enjoy the weather. Maybe take a football with you and get in some extra exercise and even more fun. This not only will make you feel more energized, it will also take your mind off the food that you would usually be indulging in.
4. Indulge in something you don't put in your mouth. Try treating yourself with something that will definitely not do any damage to your waistline, such as a bubble bath, facial, a good book, a new computer game or whatever it is that you're into. You need to reprogram your brain to realise that there is a lot more to life than food, and a lot more things to enjoy and experience.

Have you got anything to add to this list of tips for weekend survival? Slap it in the comments section! If you thought this was helpful and you'd like more similar posts in the future let me know! I'm all about the feedback :)