Are Cheat Days Hurting Your Success?

I still remember all those years of being overweight. I remember how tired I was and how uncomfortable I felt most of the time. When I decided to take charge of my health, to this day, I credit my success to never uttering the words "cheat day".

Here's why...

I believe the way we achieve lasting results is when we change the language we use around food. Have you ever thought about the energy that's created around the words "cheat day"? It says that we are taking this one day to enjoy ourselves and the rest of our days of eating well isn't fun at all. This can be a recipe for disaster.

What gave me my success was when I started to look at food differently. I began seeing food as therapy, as nourishment and a way to show up for myself and give myself the love that I for so long held back from myself. When I began to listen to how my body responded to good quality foods, rewarding myself was about making good choices rather than eating something "bad".

When we change the language from "I have to eat this" to "I get to eat this" we make the shift to looking at food in an entirely new way. This is where the magic begins. We stop labeling foods as "good" or "bad" and instead, look at food as nourishment.

You see it's not just about "eating healthy" it's about a desire to learn about food. How it's produced, how to prepare it in order to optimize it's nutrient density, and understanding how the right foods serve us on a physiological level. When this happens "cheat" foods become obsolete because we simply stop looking at them as food.

Making dietary and lifestyle choices should happen from a place of love, not self-hate or feeling like we have to "fix" something. Our current state of health is a reflection of our beliefs, circumstances, and influences, so shifting our mindset and raising our upper limits is key to creating real results.

So when we begin to eat healthier it's important to take a look at ourselves and ask "why am I really doing this?" Is it because I feel like I have to fix something? or is it because I decided to show up for myself and love myself?

It's not the action of drinking a green smoothie that matters so much as, BECOMING the kind of person that would choose a green smoothie over pancakes for breakfast the majority of the time. It's about transforming your beliefs, thoughts and feelings (identity), to support the behavior you want, not just changing your behavior. Your identity needs to change to support the version of you that you wish to become.

The result is a happy side effect.