Learn how to tame the inner food beast and eat happily
Hangry: bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger.
When hangry comes to my house, it’s best to just hand over the potato chips and step aside. Grabbing at absolutely anything is the name of the game and attempting to intervene will only make you vulnerable to my hangry’s wrath.
I’m a beast when I’m hangry. No one, including myself, enjoys or wants to participate in the behavior, but I’m not the driving force here. I try to ignore it and continue on with my work, as if the beast could be ignored.
Calming the beast
Sometimes when things get to this point, you’ve swayed too far into the darkness and relinquishing your power will require brute strength and a rock solid Deepak Chopra mindset.
Tip: Preparedness can help you when you do reach that level. It will ensure that when you do go Incredible Hulk on your pantry, you have in there a few healthy choices that are easy to smash and grab. Prepare for the beast and you shall conquer it.
When it comes to dieting, ease up on the dieting
Even the mere mention of the word diet sends me into panic mode. I was never a dieter, I never wanted to diet because I hated the thought of having to say no to myself… I simply always wanted what I wanted when I wanted it.
Considering the world is not perfect, my flawed thinking about dieting clearly needed to be altered.
So go a’changing is what I did, but I did it in the most nondramatic way I could think of, and this is what you need to hear if you’ve hung with me thus far.
The 80/20 Rule
There is an 80/20 rule out there that pertains to life and it claims that if you follow this rule, it can change your life for the better.
I’m certain you‘ve heard of this rule, yet I ask you to think again about adopting this method into your life. It makes sense and is a practical tool to have in your weight-loss arsenal.
Takes the thinking out of dieting
Eat clean 80% of the time, and go hog wild the remaining 20%. You’re not counting calories, or eliminating an entire category of foods. You’re not freaking out, engaging in tearful good-byes to chocolate, or pouring out every last bottle of wine.
Let’s break this down and look at its benefits.
Let’s say you’re eating about five small meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner and two small snacks in between), that’s 35 times you’re making a conscious effort to put a decent amount of food into your mouth per week.
80% of that is 28. So 28 times you’re going to choose from the healthy menu. You’re going to do your veggies, and your lean protein or plant protein, and maybe perhaps a grain. Berries and seeds and nuts are your go-to snacking buddies (who will help calm the hangry).
You’re going to decide to save the cheese and crackers for your 20%, which equates to seven. Seven times you get to put whatever the hell you want to put into your belly.
That’s not so bad when it comes to thinking about dieting. Because dieting sucks and it shouldn’t be a thing. Living well and eating right (your 80%) while enjoying the moderate amount of junk (your 20%) sounds like something I can sign up for and not dread the weigh-in.
Having a little wiggle-room in your diet helps you mentally when faced with the challenges of losing weight and eating right.
No one wants to deprive themselves, and if you do you can be pretty certain that you’re going to cave to the crave sooner or later and getting back up on that diet horse will be even more difficult.
Tip: Giving yourself some wiggle-room still lets you enjoy the things you crave without having to go on a junk food bender that leaves you horrified at how much crap you can eat, guilt-ridden and feeling like a failure.
This is how to make a lifestyle change that you can adhere to. It gives you control because really you only have to “control” yourself 80% of the time. The rest, well that’s up to you!
