Good v Bad

How many times have you labelled foods and behaviours as good or bad? How many of your desirable foods and behaviours are on the bad list? I'm guessing quite a few! So let's just ban all the good stuff, and suck all the enjoyment out of life, all in the name of feeling and looking fabulous? Yeah right!

Let's see how long you can sustain this before misery sets in, because I can assure you that misery will set in way before results arrive. And I'm also pretty confident that results won't come your way at all. This is a very common scenario when working towards body composition goals. The good news is there's a way around it if you're prepared to listen and change your thought process.

Let's swap good for 'do more of', and bad for 'do less of'. The behaviour now shifts from doing more of the stuff we deem necessary to make progress, and less of the stuff we deem to be detrimental. That's a shift that's possible to get our arounds yeah? Let's put this into some practical examples that might be part of Jeans life. ; )

Jean loves a good walk. Not for any other reason than she loves being out in the fresh air chewing the fat with her husband (metaphorically speaking of course). Jeans' dog also enjoys this family leisure time. Now if Jean wants to increase her daily calorie expenditure it would make sense for her to do more of what she loves doing. Walking! This makes sense as it's less of a chore. She's not a fan of exercising indoors for any longer than is necessary. So Jean will do 'more of' something she 'enjoys' that will have a positive outcome.

Jean also loves chocolate.🙈 She's become accustomed to snacking on chocolate over the festive period and has a particular taste for it just now. She knows that this habit is counterproductive to her goals so it is something she will 'do less of'. It isn't bad in any way, shape, or form. It's just something she enjoys, that doing less of at this point in time will allow more progress. If she was really smart she'd allow herself a small amount daily, after training, to satisfy cravings and prevent an all out binge. She knows that labelling it as bad will only cause her to want it more and result in feelings of failure and guilt when she gives in.

It's much easier to do less of something you love than giving it up all together. And fundamentally this process is about getting you the results you want, while living a happy healthy lifestyle in the process. Being miserable isn't fun, so why put yourself through it? What's even less fun is suffering for nothing. That's what's likely to happen if you deprive yourself of the 'bad things' while forcing yourself to do all of the 'good things'........nothing, no self satisfaction, no results. Each to their own but I know what I'd do.

Thanks for reading this folks. If you'd like further information on online coaching and personal training please fill out the comments section of my website, or email me at lyndsaygallacher@gmail.com.

Have a great weekend.