Its really basic

Raise your hand if your thinking of reigning in your out of control nutrition come January 1?

Of course you're not alone. I am hear to tell you that you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You don't need to buy a new book or try a new scheme or buy only organic. You don't have to invest in a bunch of frozen meals or powders, unless of course those worked for you in the past.

Really all you have to do is what you have done with limited success in the past, only this time don't stop the habit. I am telling you the foods that helped you feel and look better in the past are still just as good for you today. The habits you created at some point in your life to lose weight or build muscle or fuel your workouts are still just as effective today. A carrot has not increased in calories. Water is still better than diet cola. A turkey and swiss sandwhich still doesn't taste as good as a fast food cheeseburger but it's a lot better for you. A key lime yogurt doesn't taste as good as a big bowl of ice cream but it satisfys the same sweet tooth.

In all our rational minds, (Ironmen and Ironwomen may take a pass here), there is a voice in our head between loading up the fork and shoveling food into our mouth where we think, "This really isn't good for me." Shovel-Shovel-Shovel-Chew-Chew-Chew. A key component in our personal nutrional plan to actually listen to that voice.

Sidenote: I am a complusive unconscious eater. Sometimes I create amazingly heathly plates of food but load up twice as much as I need. Often times I fix my whole plate and then walk over and scrap half of it onto another plate, wrap it up and put it in the fridge for the next day. If I know there is a desert in the house and it is killing me to not eat it; I will go over and prepare the desert in the most decadent way possible and then flush it down the sink. In my situation it's the satifacation of creating the meal and getting it out of my house than putting it inside me then feeling guilty.

Often times its not the food we choose to eat, its the amount of it and then the complete disregard of our conscience. It becomes a shame cycle. We pick a healthy meal, then eat twice as much of it as we need to and then feel guilty about it. We massage that guilt by putting an alibi on the meal so we can eat desert or we alibi the whole day as if one meal sabotages everything else we can do and somehow sleeping on it makes it better. Never put off the opportunity to correct bad behavior.

In fact, it is in these confusing moments of not being able to stop eating that we gain our biggest leasons. Making a good recovery after a bad or gluttenous meal is crucial to long term consistancy in a healthy eating plan. No one can eat perfectly every day for the rest of their life. There are parties and specail dinners and occassions where giving in to the desire is completely appropriate. It is the choices we make in the amount we eat and the terms in which we allow ourselves the mental permission to have some fun.

When it comes to weight loss or body fat reduciton or general health, its not what you eat in front of others that counts, its what you eat when no is looking and judging you that counts. If you show up for a party or calorically challenging dinner event and you refuse the hard work of the host, but look exactly as you have for the last several years, then you create bad feelings and possible snide comments behind your back. However if you create healthy habits on your own time and show up for the same event noticably fitter and graze all the appropriate offerings you are lauded for your personal efforts.

As a peice of tactical wisdom in your nutrition strategy, never deny the host the ability to send food home with you. Never say no to leftovers when someone else has prepared the meal. Smile broadly, be thankful for their hard work and obvious love for their dish and take everything that is offered. As soon as you get home dump every last piece of it in the outside trash can. Don't bring any of it into your house. You and the host have won in the exchange.

It all comes down to this; you know what works for you to get into the shape you want to be in. You know your perfect path to health and your challenges. Its what you do when no one is looking that will create your habits for a thinner, fitter, stronger you. Don't buy into fad diets or quick get in shape exercise plans. It takes consistancy. It takes dedictaion. A goal or purpose to see you to the end helps too.

See you there.