By Naomi Rabon, NW Fitness Team Member

Who ever said being a grown-up was fun?

OK, sometimes it can be a lot of fun, but not when it comes to laying down your own laws, setting boundaries, parameters and structure … especially when it involves food.

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD

I have met a few rare individuals in my life who really didn’t like food that much. They didn’t dislike it, but it wasn’t a big deal either way.

They ate out of necessity more than anything. I thought “Wow, how lucky are they that food is not an issue one way or the other.” Then I thought “Wow, that is so sad.” 😁

Many of us love food so much that we have huge mental and emotional battles with it, try unsuccessfully to use the silent treatment on it, or ignore it, the list goes on.

TWO CHOICES

I’ll make this pretty simple: when it is time to eat, you can either:

1. Be an adult and eat the healthy, nutritious food you prepared for the week.

2. Be a toddler and throw a wild tantrum because you want a lollipop, donuts, pizza, etc. 😡

BE YOUR OWN FOOD POLICE

If you struggle with the inner toddler that wants a burger and fries, but a few hours after that, wants rock hard abs, use these tips to help you police-up your meal time choices.

1. Which “You” Is Choosing? The next time you approach a meal, ask yourself who is choosing? Is it the responsible adult you, or is it the inner toddler monster throwing a hissy fit?

2. Vicious Cycle In order to change your behavior, you have to first recognize it. Often times, I think people shut off their thoughts or awareness and go on auto pilot when they make unhealthy food choices. I don’t even know that you can call it making a choice, it’s more like just blindly eating because you don’t want to think about what you’re actually doing. Then when you come to your senses and realize what you’ve done, you are disgusted with yourself. But this pattern repeats over and over like an old movie in your head. This is you letting your toddler monster take over.

3. Time Out It may be frustrating to you if you are the type of person who is very disciplined and responsible in almost all other areas of your life, just not with food choices. If the toddler monster in you only shows up when it comes to food, or stress-eating, then you have to be ready for it. Give your inner toddler monster a ‘time out” and let the responsible, grown up you make your food choices. Over time (a long, long time), this may silence your inner toddler.

4. Self-Discipline It all comes down to self-discipline. You need to do what you need to do in order to reach your goals, even when you don’t feel like it. 👍

You’ve heard Nicole, Maureen and me talk about relying on self-discipline and not motivation before. Well, think of motivation as temporary, instant gratification your inner toddler responds to: motivated to eat pizza because it’s yummy and you’re hungry, motivated to work out because you just saw someone with a lean, muscular physique and you want that now.

Now think of self-discipline as long-term, temporary suffering which, over time, with patience, consistency and perseverance, will help you reach the goals you set for yourself. ✌️

 

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ABOUT NAOMI RABON
Naomi-lighterBIOOne of the trainers on Nicole’s elite NW Fitness Training Team, Naomi is a certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She is a NPC Figure competitor who has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 12 years.

Go here to find out more about training with the NW Fitness Training Team!