Why Diet?

oh that very word DIET; doesn't it just send shivers down your spine?  well it does mine as it should yours!  i don't like the word diet, not one little bit, and i will explain why.  i've seen it time, and time again.  when you use that word to describe your eating habits you are setting yourself up for failure.  see that picture over there; over toward your left?  yep, that sums it up!  you start of by saying "i need to loose some weight," and deiced that a diet will help you do that.  first you limit yourself to grapefruit and saltines, or cabbage soup, or shakes and salads every day for a month.  then it gets boring, bland, unsatisfying so you decide to "cheat."  you "give in" and have that steak, or piece of chocolate, or piece of fruit.  then you start to hate yourself for cheating.  next you are going to get down on yourself.  all of these negative thoughts start swirling through your mind.  you start to tell yourself that you're a failure, stupid for "cheating," and how disappointed you are in yourself.  you start to beat yourself up over being fat, and unhealthy until you finally get to a breaking point.  "That's it!" you say one morning looking into the mirror "tomorrow I'm going on a diet!"  so now you start the viscous cycle all over again!  can you relate to this?  i know i've done this cycle more times than i'd like to admit.  so, no i do not like diets.  diets set you up for failure.  do you know what sets you up for success?  having healthy eating HABITS!!  what's the difference?  well a habit is something you forge over time, it's a part of you.  an example of a good healthy eating habit is eating clean, and this is how i eat.  what does it mean to eat clean?  that's a question i've been asked a lot over the last few years, and there is a simple answer to this.  if it doesn't look like it cam from nature then don't eat it!  so that means no fruit chew snacks, no pre packaged meals, and nothing should be unpronounceable on the label.  easy enough right?

now you can take it a few steps further and look into paleo, raw, vegan, or even primal eating styles.  personally, i fall in-between a paleo and primal eating style and LOVE IT!!  i feel like poooooo when i don't eat this way.  i have NO energy, am bloated, and just don't feel like me.  i like eating clean.  i enjoy the benefits of it too.  i've notice a bigger energy boost (great for the hard workouts i put myself through).  i also have no issues with my IBS (thank you Shakeology) or with my skin now that i've cut out all the gunk from my eating plan.  yes with primal eating you tend to stay away from; grains, beans, and gluten but there are SO MANY things that i eat that i am not deprived.  i can go any where anytime and get good food to fuel my body!  granted; i don't eat the twinkies, sodas, fast food, preservative landed meals that i used to but i don't think of it as a punishment.  rather i have been able to get the biggest reward possible from eating clean...........i have found health and energy!  i have found happiness in myself and my lifestyle.  have you landed into a healthy eating habit that you'd like to share?  or, have you found yourself in the diet vortex?  or have you found yourself plop in the middle of preservative land and are looking for a way out?

i hope y'all have a terrific thursday and don't forget to drink your water!!