Sunday Story…Food (again)

Yesterday the Hydrostatic Fat Testing truck showed up here. Many of us hopped into the tub and got our lean muscle mass measured (notice how I changed the wording on that?) Some people received a rather rude awakening and others a pleasant surprise. Hopefully, the results motivated you in some way to make some changes, especially around what goes on in your kitchen (and what goes in your body).

The problem most of us have is that we look at those changes as being on or off. I am on a diet or not. I am eating clean or not. I am doing Paleo or not. When I am on I am doing what I think I should. This will get you results but it won’t get you permanent results.

Increasing your lean muscle mass (and decreasing your fat %) is not a sometime proposition. It isn’t something that we do once and forget about. Once we get where we want to be we need to maintain it. You don’t fill your car up with gas just once do you? Or change the oil? You maintain your car regularly. You need to maintain your body regularly as well.

Rather than going ON a diet or eating plan, decide you are going to commit to nourishing yourself for life. Rather than just slogging through another 12 week challenge of abnegation and self-denial decide to explore and adjust the way you are eating. You don’t have to be perfect but you do need to learn what works for you and your loved ones. If something doesn’t work you learn what doesn’t work, it isn’t a failure, it is a learning experience.

By using this way of thinking you are deciding to make the effort to integrate your new habits with all of the other parts of your life. If your family always has Pizza on Friday night is there a way to make the pizza better, healthier, or something else? A tradition only becomes a tradition because you make it one. There was a time when you didn’t eat pizza on Friday night. So do something different…your family will still love you!

Find ways to enjoy the journey, embrace your new culinary skills, learn to love your fitness community, find a community that supports your goals rather than thinking fitness is something we do once like putting gas in the car, it is exactly like putting gas in the car…something we must do regularly and often in order to enjoy the life and the body we have been given.

On the concrete side:
Eat more protein
Eat more healthy fat
Eat less refined carbohydrates
Eat real food (all the time!)
I leave you with this:

The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming out in each individual work … He conserves his energy. He prepares his mind for the long haul. He sustains himself with the knowledge that if he can just keep those huskies mushing, sooner or later the sled will pull in to Nome. — Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Namaste

John Mariotti

www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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