Lean in 2014 – Junk Food

Hello Hip Huggers!

If you are anything like me, one of the greatest struggles in eating clean and staying lean in 2014 has been… junk food cravings, aaahh!! I can run 6 miles, go beast in the gym, but a pack of Oreos will have me on my knees. As I woke up today on my birthday (stay calm) and contemplated all the “permissions” I have today to get cupcake wasted my sugar fix, I came across one of my favorite blogger Kenzoufit’s post about quitting junk food.

I myself eat without a doubt 80/20 clean and try and keep MOST of my food intake within the low glycemic index, but every now and then, those Oreo’s start visiting me in my dreams! Ebony and Ivory is what I call them, and what a perfect pairing they are…

Anyway, she mentions some very great habits to adopt in the effort to combat that way of eating, which as we all know if abused can totally sabotage all the hard work you’ve put in! UGH! So, here are my favorite tips from her post:

Start Cooking. I cannot tell you how my culinary skills have improved by cooking healthy myself. Unless you want to pay an arm and a leg at the Hot bar at your local health food store, or eat mindless massive bowls of salad, you are going to have to learn to grill it up, bake it up, sauté it up so you can eat it up! And be creative! Grab eggplants, zucchini, veggies you have never tried before and cook them! I use coconut oil whenever I am cooking stovetop, and I cook on medium heat. Make a marinade for your protein, add Italian seasonings to your veggies, if you are eating a carb, look for something rice based (rice flour tortillas are so good!) or 100% whole wheat or brown. Trust me, once you start cooking, you will be Googling clean recipes daily and you will become quite the clean eating, culinary sensation!

Resist the Urge.  Now, if you have youngins’ such as I do, you may find yourself with a pantry full of snack foods. Yes, I am that mom. For me and my house, we will serve the snack food to friends and guests and even snack when bored because that’s what we do snack every now and then. The problem isn’t having snacks in the house, its the lack of control that leads you to think they are for YOU! I don’t go anywhere near my kids snacks, really! I tell myself you are taking food out of their mouth, you thief “no” and that works for me! However, you are going to want to snack and enjoy a treat ever so often. So my advice, eat and walk away. Don’t go park it on the couch, cookies at arm’s length, but rather grab a serving and be done with it! Deprivation just leads to overindulging later, remember that. If you tell yourself you can’t have that cookie but can have some peanut butter, you will frequent that PB til the jar is bare! Way more calories ( good or bad) than a few cookies. So, have a taste, but not everyday and not when you haven’t eaten a meal! Remember eat healthy more than not. 80/20!

Don’t Give Up. Food management is an art, and it takes time to get down. Don’t give up on your whole healthy eating plan because you didn’t say “no”. Regroup, and get back to your plan! MyFitnessPal is a wonderful way to track your eating and stay accountable until managing your food is second nature, and it will be! Take the time to create meals and research the calories/nutrition so you don’t overwhelm yourself later trying to add up calories, make it simple and doable!

Kenzou has a TON more tips and even for a weight loss guru such as myself, I was taking notes and taking names! She has lost over 70 lbs. with Low GI eating and has fantastic recipes and weight loss motivation. Check her out at kenzoufit.blogspot.com

Until next time, Hip Huggers! Eat clean, train mean!

Oreos for me! What is your hardest food to resist?