Through lots of personal case studies I have a noticed a major change in the ways people approach the fourth day of their proper nutrition plans.
When I say change, what I mean is their feelings for the foods they have been comfortable with for so long. The food memory, like muscle memory, gets so deep in your thought pattern that nothing else is desired as much as what you WERE consuming. A large part of the population will never see the control their food has over them.
This puzzled me for a while. In almost every case, people would be ok through the first three days of their meal or nutrition plan. Consistently though, I found that getting them through the fourth day was key to their success.
What I noticed was that around the fourth day, their view changed about how they FELT about food. And it was noticeable physically. My clients would change before my eyes. Let me explain.
When you look at food every day, thoughts go through your mind as if you are on a date and you know that date is going to be great tonight, but there is no long-term relationship coming. Think about those feelings. Think about who is controlling who. Can you walk away without much feeling about the person you have desired or will those feelings get the best of you one more time?
Understanding this emotional response and how you need to react is key to your success with your food plan. Once you have identified that the exact feeling has control in any way, you will be able to manage it.
Now, different personalities will respond in different ways on their fourth day. Some need to understand in detail what they are feeling. Others won’t listen to anything you tell them or show them – they will try to outsmart the process.
Regardless of their responses, this is THE moment that you need to decide to stick with the program. You need to find that one goal that is large enough to make this short-term sacrifice because it’s EASY to say is “oh this is not working for me.” I promise you that it IS working and these feelings are a clear indicator that it is.
What is triggering these feelings are all of the unknown foods and chemicals that are leaving the body. This “loss” is triggering an emotional (chemical) response from your body. And to overcome this response, you need to NOT send your body the same signals by giving in to those feelings and deviating from your nutrition plan. By not deviating, your confidence level to reach your nutrition goals using your food plan will strengthen. Each next step that is laid out can be used to your advantage. Each step will build to your next step, both physically and mentally.
Small checks along the way can keep a quiet confidence going in your subconscious mind that you can do it. Just remember how you got this mindset, because you are creating new neural pathways for your thoughts and feelings to follow that are very different from the ones they had been following.
And now, what is really happening with our appetite? It just so happens that the foods that are best to drop body fat are also best to stabilize your blood sugar levels which in turn stabilize your thoughts and emotions.
A different way to look at this: Most, if not all foods, that help reduce body fat are also good for diabetics. (Try a little research on your own if you’re skeptical). In addition, let’s also consider the difference between, say, store-bought peaches in a can (which contain additional preservatives and sugar) and fresh peaches. Continue making this connection about the differences across all of our other food.
At first it is actually overwhelming and can be viewed as quite deceiving on the part of food companies. They try to paint this grey area that many people have a difficult time discerning. But it’s there.
And just like we get a feeling when working out where you know you have reached your potential, you can also realize a similar feeling in the nutrition stabilization process. For example, if you feel a little more energy after eating, then you’re on the right track. Understand we are not talking about a sugar high that will result in a crash. Those are signs that your blood sugars are going up or down. That swing is not beneficial for the brain or the body fat. But rather, like many other things in life, your body will try to get to a place that makes it feel really good. And feeding it correctly will help it do just that. This is not only about having stable blood sugar levels, but also about having the right foods go in your body over a period of time as well.
One of the best, easiest and most effective ways to really, truly understand this connection between food and feelings is to journal. Journal about your feelings and your foods for a 2 or 3 week period. I recommend this period because most people don’t want to go past 2 or three weeks because they think they might become obsessed with clean eating. The truth is, they’re not. And, if you can journal longer, do it. More power to you. It will give you more data and confidence in the long run and it’s nice to have hard data to compare versus just what you think right.
Also make sure you write down anything that is added to your food. This is an additive. Why is this important? Your body is a food processor. Anything you eat must be broken down to go through the body. The additives break the food down before it is processed through the body. This sends chemical signals to your body that confuse the process which result in unknown feelings that the body may incorrectly accept as “good”. Basically, when you provide your body with something unknown, it will give us an unknown result.
One of the many results that we are seeing everywhere is that you always have to go with the safe bet on your food. Look at it like it’s your money. You don’t spend all your money or even half on things you know nothing about, in essence throwing your money away. Now, some people do that, but they are not happy with the outcome. Learning to balance your bank account is a lot like learning to balance your blood sugar levels and your food intake. Since you have no idea what these chemicals do, stay away from them until you have done your own research and know exactly what you are eating. You shouldn’t expect to never consume food or drink that you think is super clean. And, in most situations, neither your family nor your friends will eat the same way you are eating. So, when it comes to nutrition plans, balance is the key.
I would never put myself in situation that made me feel like an outsider. That can sometimes get the response of “what am I really living for.” What I do is I use my understanding of how food will make me feel to help me get on my program, see some results, and then balance out for life, food, and good times!
