Deprivation and restriction vs. balance and moderation. Which group of words compels you to get motivated, focused, and fired up about your goals?
Unfortunately too many women still utilize this black or white mindset and think that deprivation and restrictive diets paired with will-power-based exercise binge cycles are the key to fitness success. This is something we can ALL identify with. But, it doesn’t have to be that way!
A foundational component of the work that I do with my clients at Strong Healthy Woman, an in-home personal training and boot camp company in NYC for busy women, is to help them create a balanced mindset around eating, exercising and lifestyle habits that allows them to achieve and maintain results for the long term.
It’s NOT about finding a quick-fix fad diet or exercise plan centered around starvation and three hours of training per day. What IS necessary is to put in the work to reframe your relationship to food and engage in a learning process that will help you gain the tools necessary to stick to healthy plan over time.
Making real changes in your life takes willingness to look at the good, the bad, and the ugly. And, most importantly, change also takes the willingness to act on that information as well.
Below is the Planned Cheat Meal Worksheet that is adapted from a blueprint that I use with every client at the start of our training together. Do it for yourself and you will reap enormous benefits!
I) What’s Working?
Success is never random. In order to establish habits that will “move the needle” (make a measureable change) you must have a detailed understanding of your process of success. Knowing the exact steps you took will help you repeat them over and over again, and with less effort each time.
Name two behaviors or actions from last week that helped you feel good, stay on track, or/and take positive steps towards success. These behaviors can come from any category of your life, such as bedtime, meal preparation, mediation, exercise etc.
1)
2)
II) What’s Not Working?
Just like success, failure is never random. Naming what isn’t working helps you use “failure as feedback,” as a way to learn and do better the next time. Beating yourself up or ignoring your missteps without processing WHY things went wrong is a sure fire way to gloss over the real cause of your problem behaviors and turn them into reoccurring negative habits.
Identify two behaviors or actions that you took last week that had a negative impact on your healthy eating plan, positive mindset, or consistent workout routine. Remember, you can name items here that are specifically related to food, sleep or exercise or they can come from other categories of your life i.e. relationships, work, stress, family etc.
1)
2)
III.) Set Behavioral Goals to Earn Your Cheat Meal
Choose two specific behavioral goals that you must achieve in order to indulge in your upcoming cheat meal. For some ideas, take a look back at the previous two sections. Can you make a plan to address something that’s not working or can you take something that is working to the next level?
Be as specific as possible; make these behavioral goals measurable and time specific. In order to take part in your cheat meal, you must successfully complete these two behavioral goals this week:
1)
2)
IV.) Set Cheat Meal and Parameters
With as much detail as possible, clearly define your cheat meal. Doing so makes this a conscious decision-based plan, and not last minute or spur of the moment indulgence that undoubtedly can and will have negative impact on your mindset and motivation.
The Meal:
Date:
Time:
Location:
With Whom:
V.) “One Day Only” Pledge
Pledge (repeat as often as necessary): My cheat meal is just one meal. It does not flow into a cascade of days worth of “cheating.” It is a scheduled event that is earned based on strategically planned healthy behaviors. It is not a haphazard, spur of the moment act to fill a void of stress, boredom or anxiety. It does not mean that I am out of control. Planning my cheat meals in this manner means that I am IN control of my food, my life, and my success! I will stop the cheat at this one meal and get right back to the healthy eating and exercise routine tomorrow!
Congratulations! You have successfully re-framed what it means to have an unhealthy meal. Now take these tools and keep perfecting them next week. Stay committed, focused, and addicted to improving yourself!
-Dr. Laura Miranda DPT, MSPT, CSCS*
*Dr. Laura Miranda, DPT, MSPT, CSCS is DOWNTOWN Magazine’s Fitness Editorial Director, a Doctor of Physical Therapy and certified fitness and fat loss expert. She is the founder of Strong Healthy Woman which offers Strong-Healthy-Woman fitness boot camps in lower Manhattan and elite in-home personal training for busy women all over NYC. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
