Happy almost Halloween!

Although Halloween can be a lot of fun it’s also a temptation nightmare.

No, I’m not going to encourage you to hand out whole grain crackers or raisins nor am I going to encourage you to give out individually packaged nuts because I don’t want your house to get toilet papered or egged! By now, I hope you appreciate the practicality of my tips.

So let’s get to it:

First and foremost, let’s make sure we eat a healthy breakfast shortly after we wake up. And let’s not forget about having some protein with our breakfast. If we fill up on protein, we’ll feel satiated for a lot longer.

Remember: If we’re very hungry, it’s very hard to make good decisions.

It’s important that we have lunch and dinner too. The #1 cause for eating poorly on the weekends is because we’re not eating regularly and we don’t have healthy foods available (that’s your cue, if you’re running out of healthy foods –> go get some!).

Temptations will be everywhere today, and tomorrow.

So, it’s important to ask yourself the question, “Is this really and truly worth it?

And because temptations will be everywhere, that means we’re going to be constantly asking our self “Do I want this? Do I not want this? Do I want this? Do I not want this.” —-> This is going to lead to discomfort.

Often we wind up giving in just to ease this discomfort so we can shut our damn mind up about the candy (or whatever it is) and not even because we want it so badly.

Being aware of this discomfort is very helpful.

Now that we’re going to be aware of it, when we begin to face the discomfort why not laugh at it? Pretend it’s someone tickling your feet. Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean we have to do anything with it. Let’s acknowledge it and move on.

“Did I want this 5 seconds ago?”

This is another question worth asking ourselves. Seeing a commercial for certain foods can instantly trigger a craving and make us feel good – because our brain will release some dopamine.

2 problems:

One. Although sugary, salty and fatty foods can make us feel good…it’s only temporary. Literally, the moment we’re done eating whatever it is, the good feelings it give us go away. The extremely fleeting nature of junk – makes us want more and more and more.

Two. 5 seconds before the commercial started, we weren’t thinking about xyz junk. It’s important to remember that. Just like 5 seconds before we walked into the kitchen at work, the conference room, the kitchen at home, the party, the refrigerator, the pantry – wherever – we didn’t want whatever is tempting us, either.

Bonus. Don’t have a pity party. “Why is everyone eating candy and I’m not?!” Either we feel deprived in the short term – or we deprive ourselves of feeling as good as we can.

I’ll be the first one to say, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, eating junk is a lot of fun. Lounging around is too. I love cookies and ice cream as much as anyone. BUT – I have never felt better from eating poorly and lounging around than I have from eating right and exercising. (I know you agree.)

Said another way – it’s more fun to eat healthfully and exercise than the alternative.

ALL that being said, if you want the candy so badly, and it’s really worth it to you, have a piece or two. But be sure to eat it slowly. It’s amazing how some of us dream of certain foods all day long yet we don’t even think about it when we’re actually eating it.

Think about it. Savor it. Enjoy it. However, be sure you pay attention to how you feel afterward.

Sadly, we usually realize, the candy (or whatever it is) isn’t as good as we imagined it would be.

Life is short. We might as well feel as good as we can right? So we might as well eat foods that make us feel good, before, during and after we eat them.

Having a game plan helps tremendously. If we can mentally rehearse what we’re going to eat before we go to a party, or even at home, it’s a lot easier to listen to our long term, rational mind.

Lastly, if you wind up giving in whether it’s planned, or against your desires, be forgiving of yourself. Don’t eat more crap to change the negative feeling you might get from eating poorly in the first place.

Ultimately, nothing tastes as good as being healthy and fit feels. And we all know it.

Just like we all know, saying “No thank you!” is very empowering.

HA HA! I gotta laugh titling an inspiration ‘lessons in life from Mike Tyson’ because I know he’s a freakin’ lunatic BUT he’s also very deep. Here is a story of his which I really like:

His then trainer Cus D’Amato, says to him, “listen you have the chance to change your life, your family’s life, you can be very special. Don’t you want to be champion? You can be champion of the world”.

I didn’t pay no attention.

He said, “Really, you could be champion of the world. You could devastate the world. No man can take what you did, you got to believe it”.

I looked at this guy and then I started thinking, I said, this guy is really crazy, that’s what I said, this guy is really crazy. [Funny how Mike Tyson thought someone else was crazy!]

“You do what I tell you to do, and if it doesn’t work then, then you can leave”.

So I said OK.

I did everything he told me to do and I won, I won every championship. From the amateur championship, all the championships, so I won every championship because he told me what to do. And I started believing in this old man.

I stopped being a little thief. I use to go back to New York and rob people and come back upstate and hide out.

The day I stopped doing all that I changed my whole life. I said I’m gonna stick to this boxing shit.

I turned my whole life over to boxing.I turned into a complete animal, I turned into a disciplinarian.”

##

My words now…

I love how he says the day I stopped… Because, ultimately change happens in an instant. We decide and then we fight like hell for the rest of our life to back our decision – unless, of course, it’s not a worthwhile one.

But we all know pursuing our health and fitness goals certainly is. Or to borrow from Mike Tyson — we all know sticking to this health and fitness shit is worthwhile. (Pardon my French!)

That day Mike Tyson decided he was going to be the best in the world. That he’d do whatever it took to be the best. That’s he’d employ an army of people to support him. That he’d be the baddest man on the planet.

What would happen if you decided that you’re not going to eat any junk for today and the rest of this week? (Yes, I know it’s Halloween.)

What would happen if you decided that you’re going to exercise every day for the rest of this week?

What would happen to your psyche if you decided on something right now that would benefit you?

Whenever I go out with my friends, they joke around that I don’t drink a lot. That I’m a ‘light weight’. Ya know what? I’ll take it.

“Oh Gilbert is nursing his beer again!”

Nursing is a great word.

It implies TLC. We could all use a little TLC, right?

Many people like to go to independently owned restaurants because it feels as though there’s more TLC that goes into the food. More effort. More love. More care. More thought.

We should try to nurse our food too. This way, we’d fully appreciate it and not take it for granted. We wouldn’t rush the experience of eating.What does that mean?

Not standing up while eating. The more we can ritualize our eating the better. That means fully tasting it. Noticing the texture. The crunch. The ingredients. The smell.

So many times we’re just shoveling food into our mouths. Let’s try to slow down and enjoy the fact that we have a plate of food in front of us. Savory is key. Without getting all corny (although I’m about to) – it’s pretty amazing if you think about it.

Our ancestors would be amazed at how readily available food is. We don’t have to hunt and gather.

And if we did – we’d probably nurse our food without question, and we’d be better off.

Cheers!

After I sent the inspiration entitled, “Is confusion messing up your diet? Huh?”, a client writes me, “This inspiration describes EXACTLY how I feel when I’m overwhelmed since I came back from vacation. And the phrase “food trance” describes exactly what happens when I’m overwhelmed and I binge.

I don’t think about all of the crazy emotions, because I’m full – my stomach is full and I’m full of disdain for myself because I ate a bunch of junk food. BUT, all those emotions are pushed aside…temporarily. You nailed it.”

So here’s the question I replied with: does the disdain feel better than the confusing feelings?

Ultimately, it comes down to a choice we all get to make: Choosing disdain or discomfort.

The good news is one is as fleeting as a cookie is while the other sticks with us.

What are you going to choose?

Discomfort is, well…uncomfortable yet it’s the ONLY way to change because change is uncomfortable. And that’s why support makes a world of difference.

And that’s why I’m right here with you.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. A helpful way to get through the discomfort is to think about something else. What happens when a dog drives a postal truck? See for yourself by clicking here. (Safe for work)